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Newspaper Clipping - Newspaper Clipping Scan - Newspaper articles on Northwest's (Delta's) building its headquaters in Eagan and later leaving. - 5/22/1985F 0 L.DEf� SrGINS Cedarvale Lanes finishes upgrade, ready to have grand reopening Cedarvale Lanes bowling alley in Eagan is holding a grand reopening throughout August to' show off $300,000 in improve- ments. "Business, has been awesome the last 10.years, but we want it to continue to be awesome," said Brent Prentice, general manager for bowling.. The improvements are intend- .ed to benefit Cedarvale Lanes' different customer bases, Prentice said. For the . club bowlers, there are new, resur- faced lanes; for younger, recre- ational bowlers, there is a better • laser light system for the glow - in -the -dark "Incred-A-Bowl"; and for the bowlers who are just learning the game, there are now retractable bumpers, which can be put into place with the push of a button. Cedarvale Lanes has been a destination in the Cedarvale area since it opened in 1980. Prentice said that the management has continually invested in upgrades, Bowlers enjoy Incred-A-Bowl at .Cedarvale Lanes. Photo by John Sucansky . but never as much as the current upgrade. During the . grand reopening, bowling and shoe rental are $1.50 per game each for regular bowling. Also, Incred-A-Bowl is reduced to $15'per hour, per lane. Prentice . said that Incred-A- Bowl has been so packed lately that he recommends that cus- tomers arrive a little. early to reserve a lane. Incred=A-Bowl hours are Tuesday, 9 p.m. to close; Saturday and Sunday, 8 p.m. to 1 a.m.; with a Friday matinee from 2 to 4 p.m. and a Sunday matinee from 1 to 3 p.m. "We're excited," Prentice. said. "This is a big deal for us.. We're expecting a great bowling'. season" • HOUSE ,Verelro ust , 2� Ito pin sfor the mal fpie Valley i0 Galaxie Ave. 2-431-1377 ngtroa ice balruelt 10 West 98th St. 52-837-3844 r 4,- \.ornerobblers 651-454-4468 Cliff Lake Center, Eagan (Next to Cub) "Your Full Service Shoe Repair" Back To School Services: • Clean, Repair, Sew Patches On Letter Jackets • Polish, Repair Shoes • Zippers Repaired or Replaced • Fix Back Packs • Leather Cleaning L We Carry A Full Line Of MINNETONKA MOCCASIN The Most Comfortable Shoes In Town! 200/1 IEE ANY REPAIR COUPON EXPIRES 8-31-00 1 in the light -then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood "IN THE LIGHT" Dance Studio CHRISTIAN DANCE STUDIO OFFERING: 0 - e-_ rl I;,.. A ,. Northwest said it. Wanted to join the lawsuit because it has a "very significant financial -interest." pand its planned insulation pro- gram, a very substantial financial burden may ultimately fall on carriers serving the airport, which primarily is Northwest Airlines," said a Northwest spokesperson. The city of.Eagan is watching the situation closely and awaiting the judge's decision. • - "It's a situation where -we con- tinue to watch and discern what , • that means for the future of_ the lawsuit," Garrison said. , ' If the judgedecides the stay is valid: the plaintiffs will have the:option of going to bankruptcy, court to argue their case. But that would increase the cost for all parties, Dougherty said. Erin Johnson is at eagan. thisweek @ ecm-inc. corn. • • Northwest bankruptcy could affect city's lawsuit 'Eagan, _ Richfield and Minneapolis are suing Metropolitan Airports" Commission by Erin Johnson . THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS' - • A lawsuit brought against the airport by three cities, including Eagan,. could be put on hold by. the recent bankruptcy fling of Northwest Airlines. Eagan,. Richfield and Minne- apolis are suing the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) . for what they claim •are broken promises regarding noise insula tion for homes near the -airport: Although it was not named in the original lawsuit -filed in April, Northwest requested to be added.. as a defendant in May, a move _ that now. threatens to stall the process.'• Bankruptcy laws place an au- tomatic stay on all legal actions, said Eagan. City Attorney . Mike Dougherty.. . A judge is currently examin- ing legal briefs from both. sides to determine how the, bankruptcy affects the lawsuit. Northwest .said it wanted to join •the lawsuifbecause •it has a "very significant financial":inter- est . "If the MAC is required to ex- 1fi 39 Mo. Lease 5339 MSRP $26,590 Employee Price $4,591 r '04 DODGE DAKOTA QUAD CAB 7 SLT 4.7L V8 4WD 4-DOOR TRUCK Black, 4.7 Liter V8, 21,574 Miles AC, PS, PB, ABS, PL, PW, Power Mirrors, Intermittent Wipers, Tilt Steering, CC, Automatic, 4x4 Sale Price $19,92 , '03 CHEVROLET S10 CREW CAB LS' 4.3L V6 4X4 4-DOOR TRUCK Black, 4.3 Liter V6, 36,362, Miles Automatic, 4x4, Heated Seats, AM/FM Stereo, CO Player, Trip Odometer, Compass, Leather, Buckets, Alloy Wheels, Keyless Entry, Tonneau Cover L 04 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX GT2 3.8 V6, 4-DOOR CAR Silver 3.8 Liter V6, 19,752 Miles AC, Rr. Defrost, PS, PB, ABS, Trac. Control. PL, PW, Pwr. Mirrors, Int. Wipers, Tin Steering Auto, FWD, Driver/Pass. Air Bags, Pwc Drivers Seat, AM/FM, CD. Steering Whl. 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Buckets, Tow Hitch, Luggage Rack J Will 1WA's bankruptcy pEagan?im act Eagan is home to airline's headquarters, data processing facility and flight simulator by Erin Johnson THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS Certainly the bankruptcy fil- ing and downsizing of Northwest Airlines, one of the country's largest, has a potential impact that goes beyond Minnesota's borders. But as home to the company's headquarters, the city of Eagan could be directly affected. NWA has three major facili- ties in Eagan — its corporate headquarters, data processing facility and flight simulator training facility. Although it is the city's third largest employer, behind Thom- Prato In Rfrk Urndnr> Northwest Airlines, headquartered in Eagan, filed for bank- ruptcy on Sept. 14. •son West and Blue Cross Blue have "no immediate impact" Shield, NWA's bankruptcy will See NWA, 5A klifiskto— ;RP $15,915 iployee Price $11,999 Cast Wheels ZERO DOWN 36 Mo. Lease $379 Business Owner -S300 MSRP $26,590 Employee Price $22,999 iT PREOWNED SALE. 122 PAM1 4121 01lRANG4j ! 0Q) PAI A' NGO 42—j '''4 4 MAIM Aluminum Wheels, Power iJ Wi + rwS, Locks, Mirrors) NWA/from 1A on Eagan as the company's head- quarters, said NWA Spokesper- son Tracy Carlson. A struggling NWA would have likely had a greater impact on the city 10 years ago than it would today, thanks to Eagan's more diverse economy, officials said. The airline represents only about 1 percent of the city's to- tal tax base, with its 2005 prop- erty taxes totaling $157,500. The city sees NWA's financial woes as a regional issue, not so much an Eagan issue, said City Administrator Tom Hedges. "We're interested in seeing NWA stay as a hub to this area, and we want them to be healthy financially and remain a good corporate citizen and remain in business for a long time," he said. Hedges said that while the city is as concerned as other area officials, it views N'n's bankruptcy as a financial re- structuring that could make the airline stronger. "Our biggest concern is we want a healthy, vibrant airline to serve this metro area. Having NWA's healthy financial pres- ence is important," he said. "As long as planes are flying, we don't see much impact on our community." What could impact the com- munity, he said, is layoffs and pay cuts for employees living in Eagan, and small local business- es that act as suppliers to NWA that could suffer if the company downsizes. Mesaba, for instance, also headquartered in Eagan, oper- ates as an airlink for NWA and relies on payments from the air- line: "We're obviously very close- ly tied to Northwest — they are our customer. They are our only customer," said Mesaba Spokes- person Elizabeth Costello. NWA currently owes Mesaba more than $18 million for flights during the month of August, but whither Mesaba sees the money remains to be seen. Costello said the fate of the September payment is also un- known. Lack of payment could have a substantial impact on Mesaba, she said. "It's in the hands of the bank- EG THISWEEK September 24, 2005 SA ruptcy court right now. We're not sure if we're going to be paid," she said. "I think it's fair to say that we're obviously con- cerned." The city could also poten- tially lose some property tax revenue from NWA. While it has already paid taxes for the first half of 2005, the company will not comment on whether it plans to pay the remaining bal- ance. Erin Johnson is at eagan. thi.sweek@ecm-inc.com. I 6A September 24, 2005 THISWEEK EG Arson/from 1A expected that the city would eventually acquire the proper - the building, but no suspect ty, according to city officials. has been identified. Police are asking for in - The building and the busi- formation from anyone who ness have different owners, may have been in the area th Gunderson said, and the busi- night. ness owner rented the space "Maybe somebody sa from the property owner. something after closing at 11' There is no evidence that p.m. on Sept. 5," he said. another crime was committed A reward of up to $2,500 in conjunction with the arson, is being offered for informa- such as burglary, he said. tion leading to the arrest of the The fire is being investigat- person(s) responsible for the ed by the Eagan Police Depart- fire, he said. ment, the Bureau of Alcohol, Anyone with information Tobacco and Firearms and the is asked to call the Eagan Po - State Fire Marshall's Office. lice Department at (651) 675- Open house is set at historic Eagan Town Hall Step back in time as the Ea- gan Historical Society holds its annual open house at the 1914 Town Hall on Sunday, Sept. 25, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The 1914 Town Hall is lo- cated at the southwest corner of Pilot Knob and Wescott roads. Bring your friends, family, Scout troop or community or- ganization and tour the historic Town Hall. Ea Visit with Historical So- ciety volunteers about Eagan history and what Eagan was like in the days it operated as a township. Look at dis- plays depicting early farming, Eagan's first settlers, find out how Eagan roadways got their names and what life was like in Eagan 100 years ago. Enjoy refreshments and take home a souvenir of your visit. For more information con- tact the Eagan Historical So- ciety at (651) 675-5038 or visit the city Web site at www. cityofeagan.com. Membership in the Eagan Historical Society is free and the society is always open to new members. Contact the society or join a historical society meeting at 3:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month in the Eagan Room at Eagan City Hall. an Fire Department receives federal funds rrentfThursday,-Septr29; 2005-• — — -- LETTERS TO 15). I know it is very difficult to consider raising a local levy, yet I also understand that state aids to local government were cut last year, at the suggestion of state auditor and former Eagan mayor, Pat Anderson (known as Pat Awada when she was mayor). In view of a desire to pay bills and - preserve the city's bond rating, it is pru- dent for city officials to compensate for losses in revenue from the state. (Its ac- tion is occurring a couple .years after -the • State bond rating itself went from AAA to AA, .due to the -market''§ uncertainty about state resources.) Compare and contrast the recent situ- ation of the declaration of bankruptcy by one of the city's major employers, Northwest Airlines. Months ago the policy of shipping air- plane maintenance functions overseas was immediately seen as imprudent and it hurt the airline's goodwill. Questions about the very safety of its passengers have come up, in light of the excellent • - training, of mechanics previously em- ployed. • ' The policy's impact on good -paying • local jobs has been negative, and still ap- parently not enough to spare the air- line's bottom line in a tight travel mar- ket. ' • • Some potential passengers might feel more like flying if the airline appeared more safety -conscious or benign in its employee policies. • Citizens may think %Northwest owes the state some gratitude. for considerations extended in the past: Either way, the prudence exercised by the city of Eagan, in increasing its tax revenues andpreserving its rating, stands as a model for its major employer. Constance Peterson Eagan Apple Valley/Rosemount, Ea a hitery MI be takeN T All participants i USt be avail scRc>i�P� ,�s — _2.2 —85' Staff Photo by Art Hager Starting at the ground floor Bea Bloomquist, left, mayor of Eagan, and Steven G. Rothmeier, pres- ident and chief executive officer of Northwest Airlines, broke ground Tuesday for Northwest's $14-million world headquarters building. When completed in late summer or early fall of next year, the 275,000-square-foot building will provide space for about 1,000 Northwest employees. The building will be on a 150-acre parcel In Eagan, across the Minnesota River Valley from the airline's present headquarters, which is being converted to handle the maintenance requirements of its aircraft fleet. Northwest will acquire 20 Boeing 7576 through 1986. of Wisconsin Central and of Minne- apolis -St. Paul Sault Ste. Marie Rail - aavu. a 1.M a aalaat.UUaa L1 CA}7Cl:LGU LU result in a pretax gain of about $35 million which will be reflected in the company's second quarter. executive Aeration taurant and consumer nonfoods op- erations (including toys). In 1982 he was named president of The Talbots, General Mills' specialty retailer of women's apparel. Fifield was promoted last October to group executive vice president of General Mills' consumer nonfoods operations, including its toy, fashion and specialty retailing groups. In that position, he reported directly to General Mills Chairman Bruce At- water. He was named to head the spinoff toy company in March. The new toy company is expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange with shares distributed on a pro rata basis to General Mills shareholders. agreement December purchase of $30 million in debentures, which are convertible into BMC stock. The institutions, led by Prudential Insurance Co. of America, have tried to annul the debenture purchase, al- leging that there was inadequate dis- closure before the sale was closed and because of the departure of for- mer Chairman Ryal Poppa shortly after the sale. St. Paul -based BMC produces preci- sion electronic components and sys- tems and optical products such as eyewear frames and lenses. The servicing relating to contracts for manufactured housing totaled about $1.5 billion as of March 31. In brief/ ■ Angiomedics, Inc., said it is rehir- ing about 15 workers to increase production of catheters for the Ar- gon Medical subsidiary of Squibb Corp. under a previously announced $1 million contract, and to fill a backlog of orders. About 42 people had been laid off by the Plymouth company in the last three months. • Midstate Airlines, Stevens Point, Wis., said it will begin service from Rochester, Minn., to Chicago, Mil- waukee and Indianapolis on June 15. The airline also said it will add an- other flight from central Wisconsin to the Minneapolis -St. Paul Interna- tional Airport, bringing the total of Minneapolis -St. Paul flights to three. ■ Sperry Corp. said it received an order for computers valued at more than $9 million from the Civil Ad- ministration of China. • gyp` .11 dillf" ,' SPECIAL CLOSEOUT PRICES ON A FEW 1 �SELECT SNITS! -01 11111 111 rli t"1 1 orthwesi Airlines breaks �ound for new Eaganheadqua ers By Julie Anne Gold Staff Writer Silver -bellied jets broke the si- lence on an Eagan hillside Tues- day, as the city's mayor and the president of Northwest Airlines broke ground for the carrier's new, $14.5 million corporate headquar ters. "We're pleased and excited to begin," said Steven -Rothmeier; Northwest's president and chief ex-, ecutive officer. The three-story stone •and glass structure, flanked by'a landscaped parking lot and natural pond, could help shed the tight-fisted image that Northwest's old headquarters — ."a windowless, blue corrugated metal affair off the entrance ramp .at the Minneapolis -St. Paul Inter- * national Airport — seemed to em- ii 13 E'; E31319111/i61 t-b13. i'1ACaG'�3FeI — 7J' 'fl e0 r3 41111� 111111 r 111111 luuuI.� IIIllli 1 �.E th -} > if�i'S � 1i6 n y,y! c NWA's new headquarters body. "The intent of the owner was to set the building back from the road, where they couldlead their own comfortable low -profile life," �Y was designed by' Thorsen & Thorshov Associates Inc., a Minneapolis architectural firm. said William Fay, vice-president of Thorsen & Thorshov Associates. Inc., the Minneapolis architectural firm that designed the new head- quarters. "This is one of the most exciting things to happen to Eagan," said Eagan Mayor Bea Blomquist, standing next to Rothmeier. Blom- quist said the Northwest move will lure more businesses to the area. Judging from the history .of the 450-acre tract (Northwest bought 158 acres for a price it declined to disclose) first zoned for commer- cial use in 1972, Blomquist's words were more than just pleasantries. Dayton Hudson Corp. once owned the land, located. south of a newly finished segment of Inter- state 494 just east of Dodd Road, but sold it. More recently the site was considered for the domed sta- dium and the ,Twin Cities horse racing track,developments award- ed to sites in Minneapolis and Shakopee, respectively. - About 1,000 of Northwest's 5,000 employees are scheduled to make the six -mile move by August 1986, Rothmeier said. The company's reservation , and maintenance crewswill remain at the old head- quarters, which' will get a $5 mil- lion facelift to accommodate the company's new fleet of 757s: ^; uram sutures • Open High Low Close Chg. MINNEAPOLIS WHEAT 5,000 bu minimum; dollars per bushel May.,3.641 3.6534 3.641 3.641/2 -.021h Jul 3.60 3.60 . 3.58 . 3.5634 - 031/2 Sep 3.531 3.54 3.5234 3.523/. -.01 Dec 3.581/4 3.581 3.58' 3.581/2 -.011h Mar 3.64 -.02 Prev. sales 768. , Prev day's open int 4,531, off 49. WHITE WHEAT 1,000 bu minimum; dollars per bushel May 3.89 3.89 . 3.89 3.89 -.03 Jul 3.66 3.66 3.66 3.66 Sep - 3.63 3.63 3.63 3.63 Dec .' 3.72 3.72 3.72 3.72 -.001h Prev day's open int 1,455. CHICAGO WHEAT 5,000 bu minimum; dollars per bushel May 3.38 3.3934 3.31 3.2034 -.19 Jul 3.18 3.1834 3.16 3.16 -.0234 Sep 3.18V. 3.19 3.171 3.171h-.011/4 Dec 3.18 3.2934 3.18 3.281 -.01 Mar 3.32�h 3.33'4 3.321/2 3.33 -.011h May 3.24V2 3.241 3.241/2 3.241/4 -,011/4 Est. sales 600. Prev. sales 5,000. Prev day's open int 38,936, off 286. - CORN 5,000 bu minimum; dollars per bushel May 2.8234 2.83V. 2.82 2.83 +.011/4 Jul 2.7534 2.761/4.2.75h 2.75 -.01 Sep 2.62 2.6234 2.62 2.6034 -.011 Dec 2.58, 2.5834 2.5734 2.5634-:011/4 Mar - 2.6634 2.671h 2.6634 2.651/2,-'01 May 2.711 2.7134 2.711 2.7034 -.0034 Jul 2.731'2.731h 2.731/2 2.72 -.011/2 Est. sales 25,000. Prev. sales 23,000. Prev day's open int 105,333. OATS 5,0E3,bu minimum; dollars per bushel May 1.63 1.64 1.63 1.601 -.021 Jul 1.56 1.561 1.56 1.541-.011/4 Sep 1.55 1.55. 1.55 1.5334 - 0034 Dec - 1.5834 1.5834 1.5834 1.58' '-.001/2 Mar 1.6234 -.001/2 Est. sales 200. Prev. sales 200. Prev day's open int 2,839. • SOYBEANS 5,000 bu minimum; dollars per bushel May 5.79 5.801 5.78' 5.68 Jul 5.74 5.79/25.721 5.681 _.0- 6'4 Aug 5.731/2 5.761/2 5.73V. 5.69 Sep 5.74 5.751/4 5.72 5.681 Nov 5.80 5.8334 5.79 5.761/4 Jan 5.89 5.94 5.89 5.861/2 Mar 6.01 6.041/2 6.01 5.971 May • 6.054 Est. sales 22,000. Prev. sales 5,000. 6.101/2 Prev day's open int 63,821, up 2,633. SOYBEAN OIL ado° Ibs; dollars per 100 Ibs. May 32.45 33.20 32.20 32.93 Jul 30.85 31.05 30.53 30.35 Aug 29.80 29.90 29.55 29.27 Sep 28.85 28.90 28.65 28.33 OcOctc 27.80 27.95 27.70 27.30 '26.88 27.05 26.70 26.47 Jan 26.52 26.60 26.40 26.10 Mar '26.00 26.15 26.00 25.65 May 25.35 Est. sales 20,000. Prev. sales 22,000., Prev day's open int 59,073. SOYBEAN MEAL 100 tons; dollars per tog�1 May . 119.20 119.30 118.50 118.60 Jul 122.50 123.30 121.80 122.80 Sep 128.10 129.00 127.80 128:30 Oct 130.50 131.90 130.50 131.10. Dec 136.00 137.30 135.70 136.60 Jan 139.00 140.00 139.00 139.30 Mar 145.00 145.00 145.00 144.70 May 148 80 Jul 152.80 Est. es 15,000. Prev. sales 4,000. �$ Prev d'ay's open int 50,963. CHICAGO (AP - (USDA) Butter Tuesday is un- changed: AA 1.4150-1.4325, A 1.4050-1.4325. Eggs: trade sentiment is barely steady Tuesday. Sales delivered to volume buyers are lower: A ex- tra large .54-.56, A large .51-.54, A mediums .39-.42. So. St.' Paul SOUTH ST. PAUL (USDA) - Tuesday cattle and -.0534 calves: 2,700. Slaughter steers moderately active, -.0434 steady to weak. Slaughter heifers moderately ac- -.041/4 tive, weak to'50 lower. Holstein steers somewhat -11434 slow' fully 50 lower. Slaughter cows and bulls -.0434 moderately active, firm to 1.00 higher. Near 800 -.0434 feeders expected for auction. Slaughter steers' -.05 Choice 2-4, 1050-1350 Ib, 56.50-58.00; 3-4, 1200-1450 Ib, 55.00-56.70. Mixed good and choice 2-3, 1000-1200 Ib, 55.Chose 2-4, 975-56.50. 117531b 5 75-56 75.IM Slaughter good fand choice 2-3, 850-1100 Ib, 54.50-56.00, Good 2-3; 52.00- +.74 54.50. Holstein steers: Choice 2-3, 1200.1575Ib, 49.50- -.32 51.00. Mixed good and choice 2-3, 1100-1500 Ib, 48.50- -.39 49.50. Good 1-2, 1000-1500 Ib, 46.50.48 50 Standard -.42 and low good 1-2, 45.00-46.50. Slaughter cows: -.50 Cutter and boning utility 1-3; 40.00-44.00. Breaking -.31 utility and commercial 2-4, 41.00-44.00. Canner and -.32 low cutter 1-2, 5.00-40.00, Shelly or lightweight -.30 31.00-35.00. Slaughter bulls: Yield grade 1-2, 1400- -.25 2200 Ib, 48.00.52.00, few individuals 53.00-54.00; 1000- 1400 Ib, 44.00-49.00. Vealers: 200. Choice and prime 140-250 Ib, 60.00-80.00, few 81.00-109.00. Good and choice 140-250 Ib, 45.00-60.00; 100-140 Ib, 35.00-50.00; 70-100 Ib, 25.00-40.00. Holstein bull calves on coun- -.60 try account 90-200 Ib, 45.00-80.00. -.30. • =.3p . Hogs: 3,000. Barrows and gilts active, 1.00-2.00 higher. US 1-3,. 200-260 Ib, 43.00-43.50, mostly 43.50 - 30 • closing 43.50.44:00; mixed weights 43.00. Limited volume over 260 Ib. US 2-4, 260-280 Ib, 42.00-43.50. US +- .10 3-4, 280-300 Ib; 41.00-42.50. Sows: Active, 1.00-2.00 + 1.40 • higher. US 1-2, 300-500 Ib, 37.00-37.50. US 1-3, 500-650 +.30 Ib, 38.00-38.50. Boars:300-700Ib, 35.00. -,20 Sheep: 300. Slaughter Iambs and feeder Iambs fairly active, firm to 1.00 higher. SIgiughter ewes scarce, steady. General demand broad. Po sacks: size A Washington russets 8.00, Colorado 7.50, Idaho 8.00. Russets in 50 Ib cartons per cwt 80-90 count: Washington 15.00, Colorado 16.00-17.00, Idaho 18.00- 19.00. Cash grain MINNEAPOLIS.- Wheat receipts Tuesday 115, a year ago 61; spring wheat cash trading basis un- changed; prices down 31 cents. No. 1 dark northern ordinary-17 protein; 3.5034 nominal-3.5234 nominal. . Test weight premiums: zero to three cents each pound 58 to 60 lbs; one cent discount for each 1 pound under 58 lbs. Protein prices; ordinary, 3.5034 nominal down 31; 11 percent, 3.6034 nominal down 31/2; 12 per- cent, 3.7034 down 31/2; 13 percent, 3.7434 down 31; 14 percent, 3.9534 down 3'/; 15 percent, 4.2334 down .31; 16 percent, 4.5034 down 31/2; 17 percent, 4.5234 nominal down 31/2. No..1 hard Montana winter 3.6234 nominal down 31. • Minn-S.D. No. 1 hard winter 3.6234 down 3V2. No. 1 hard amber durum; milling 4.16 nominal- 4.45, terminal Minneapolis, 4.10 nominal, Duluth, 4.12 nominal; Prices unchanged. Number traded: milling 13 cars; top traded milling 1 cars. Off grade as low 'as 4.10 nominal Minneapolis, 4.12 nominal Duluth. Discounts,. amber 5 cents; durum 10 cents. Corn No. 2 yellow,2.73' bid down 34. Soybeans No. 1 yellow 5.731'bid down 6. Oats No. 2 extra heavy white 1.65 nominal-1.66 unchanged to down 1. Barley cars 69, a year ago 44; Malting 65 PI, MorexRobust 2.55-2.65 un- changed; Glenn 2.50 unchanged. No 2 feed barley; Minneapolis 2.05 nominal unchanged; Duluth 2.25 bid unchanged. Rye No. 1 2.33-2.35 unchanged to up 3; No. 2 2.30 nominal unchanged. Flax No. 1 7.35 bid unchanged. Sunflower seeds; Minneapolis no bid;...Duluth- 13.20 bid unchanged. - ;Gy When you buy a 3-bedroom townhouse at Izatys, there's no place like, a vacation home. Luxurious four-season,,2- or 3-bedroom townhomes are now available at Izatys on the south shore of Lake Mille Lacs. Your accountant can confirm the financial advantages of ownership. For a brochure and prospectus, call collect outside Minneapolis, 612-941-9558 izArvs ACH liAKL6 0�%U�t u u L �/ Ryan Development, Inc., 6440 Flying Cloud Drive, Eden Prairie, MN 55344 company news asy - Northwest Airlines is planning new headquarters in Eagan Northwest Airlines said it has out- grown its headquarters at Minneapo- lis -St. •Paul:International Airport and plaits -to move 'most of its airport office workers to a new building in Eagan by 1986.. Tlfeairline said it is planning a 250,000-square-foot multipurpose of- fice building on 150 acres south and eastof the intersection' of Dodd Rd. and Interstate Hwy.••494. Thorsen & Thorshov Associates, Inc., of Minne- apolis was chosen as architects for the-, headquarters, and the firm is working on the design, said company spokesman Matt Gonring. Its cost will depend on the design, he added. Gonring said the Eagan location was selected .from several possible sites because of, its. proximity to the air- port. The headquarters will be': a ' five-minute drive • from the airport . using the new I-494 access road, he . said: • The operations functions — mainte- • nance, engineering and reservations will remain at the airport, the airline said. Northwest 'has about 8,000 Minnesota employees based at two Twin Cities locations, but it has not yet determined how many will move to Eagan, Gonring said. "The move of our office personnel to new quarters is occasioned by the strong continuous growth of North- west Airlines in the Twin Cities," said M. Joseph Lapensky, chairman and chief . executive officer. He said the company has outgrown the air- port headquarters it first occupied in 1961 and needs more space for maintenance and, hangar facilities, particularly to accommodate the 20 Boeing 757 ` planes that will start arriving in February at the rate of one amonth. The airline said the 150 acres of land it has agreed to buy is part of a larger parcel of 450 acres owned by the partnership of Laukka-Beck-Ea- gan. A major retail -office develop- ment is planned by the developers for the remaining 300 acres, the air- line said, but it has no plans to be involved in that project. However, no employees will be laid off • because there aren't enough products to sell, Kramp said.. The - - company wants to maintain its labor' force because it anticipates that it will soon begin toreceive ,parts from.. CarboMedics as a result of an Octo- ber U.S. District Court order, which maintains the existing supplier -cus- tomer relationship„ pending a deci- %sion in the case, he said. The only work -force reduction as a result of the parts shortage was the elimination last month of about 13 shipped St. Jude any parts as the dispute has grown in recent months. By not keeping its. usual one-year .supply of heart-valveparts, on,hand, • St: Jude has- been, able •to save $10 rmillion to, $15 million in inventory costs; he said.,...' " - The dispute is a complex one, :and stems' from the fact that CarboMe dies is' the only. U.S. supplier of: -graphite heart -valve 'parts, that -are coated with carbon for long wear, Srntrup said. The chemical process by which the : coating is done is called pyrolyzation, and is patented Small. business/ -.Richard Kramp by CarboMedics. Thedispute began in March .when'; CarboMedics alleged that St. Judeo. had infringed .on that patented proc ;.' Valve continued on page 11B - A family business coul turn into a family feud By David A. Vise. Washington Post • '7 .1 • Joe, the oldest • brother, goes into. theoffice_for—three_h nu rc_evAry Northwest breaks ground in Eagan -A MAY 21 groundbreaking .ceremony symbolized the move of Northwest Orient Airlines to Eagan. the $14.5 million headquarters •will •be, 275000 square feet and will be able to increaseto twice that size with further growth. Thebuilding is scheduled to be com- pleted in the fall of 1986 and 1,000 Northwest employees will occupy it. The old building will be us- ed for operational functions, such; as maintenance, . . engineering and reservations. At right, Councilman - Ted• Wachter, .left,. and City Administrator Tom Hedges admire souvenirs of the event, models of Nor- thwest's newest aircraft, the Boeing 757. Below, an artist's rendering of .the new facility: • Photo .byC'hristy DeJoy }r 3Uitilit, tr efc ltic i'F� !" ... i - 1 pS9 - , • at' felt THRU SATURDAY, _ J,UNE 1st. .A. FOOD STAMPS " Quantities li9hwar .enter 0-9 SUN. . DICK'S IGA 30 South Fairview ST. PAUL DPEN.24 HOURS RKRAUT N SALAD 9 C. LB. SALAD-RAMA $ 39 LB. ESE SALAD $2� $t19 LB. $2i8: LB. $. 99. giApAN ,,,„_,- DOES'i.T • AGAIN! POUND OF FREE. POTATOOR ALAD COLESLAW WITH EACH ROTISSERIE CHICKEN SLICED AMERICAN CHEESE .:....Ei.i..::E... 26LB ITALIAN; ELITE SALAD. ............... .......... $289 TPART.Y TRAYS for Graduations & Weddings Airline's plans taking off NORTHWEST ORIENT Airlines, held a groundbreak- ing ceremony May 21 for the company's new corporate world headquarters. The building will be located on a 150acre parcel of land .east .of Dodd Road and north of Lone Oak Road. Pictured above,'from left: architect William Fay, vice president and secretary of Thorsen & Thorshov. , Associates, . Inc.; architect Willard • 'Thorsen,- president of -Thorsen & Thorshov Photo by Christy DeJoy: Associates, :Inc.; developer Larry.Laukka; James Ab= .r bott, executive vice president of finance administra= tion of Northwest.,Orient Airlines;_; Mayor.Bea Blom-` quist; Steven Rothmeier, president and chief ex- ecutive officer:of Northwest Orient; Councilman Ted Wachter; --.City Administrator Tom Hedges and - developer 'Warren Beck. For more photos, see page 4A J e //S• union e x�4 ak•`;� ;s. Z���j�'�j��t`�''�as�'.v�y��1';,4a9��9,�;,d.�,t+l '.9'�?�e,i.� tg11-iti7r•TZ' r•-. .yt t• _ t1 s•:':1 r Dot notes HS semester 3rmat to provide e write stun' • (Theodore Foot, erintendent of - rict 191 Schools er, the new semester for- at'Burnsville High School, mores •will be required to a course in writing/composi- Since their writing.skills will , composition courses will be ed at three different levels: sic + Writing' Skills" for, ' �ritsl with low skills; "Com- Lion". for students with age/above average skills; `;`Honors Composition" for.. !nts with above average/ skills: their junior and senior s„ students will receive con-. ,d'instrtiction and practice in kg/composition as part of tion, sophomore writing courses will mass the instruction and practice of new skills; continued practice and .additional instruc- tion will be distributed over four semesters of literature courses. , Relating their writing to liter- ature will bring more meaning to students' writing experiences. It. will give more direction to their: writing and will provide more op- portunities to develop thinking skills. One of the problems with the present system has been that studentshave difficulty making 'the transfer from writing class to writing for any other purpose. By relating what students write to what they read, the language arts teachers stand a better chance of bringing about that transfer. One can learn writing skills letters Be of service: - give to CAC To the editor: The beautiful homes of our area, the well -kept lawns, the ex- cellent schools and the efficient municipal services all testify to'a very sufficient community of in- dustrious citizens. With. this im= age as background, I was surpris- ed when 'I learned of the tremen- dous and varied. .requests for -human services made of the Community Action Council. CAC provides a variety of assistance for residents of Dakota County, serving as a safe- ty net'for those•between trauma and a more permanent solution to their problems. For, example,' in 4984 CAC's Help Line received 18935 calls for assistance. The Food Pantry gave free food to more than 4;000 people and the Clothes Closet pro- vided free clothing to 419 children and 356 adults..,The staff reports that there is a constant need for children's clothing. •. The B. Robert Lewis House for critical. • .1 We have all had troubles to some degree: Divorce, death, loss of a job, serious illness or drug or alcohol problems can quickly createa marginal situation. ' I invite each of us to. consider being of service by becoming a member of CAC. Being a con - Social work ethics questioned To the editor:' - I wish Dakota County social workers andchild protection peo- ple would have had the opportuni- ty.to hear the social worker who gave a short talk to a group 'of listeners recently. . This social worker and former child protection worker is now in her 70s. She started' out by say• - r tributin>; member is more than a gesture. II is an appropriate ac- tion that. truly represents who we are a communityy of human be- ings who are able -and- willing to • , make a difference. LARRY BUCKLIN Burnsville. Social workers need services,. too To the editor: AFSCME Local 306, represent ing clerical, technical; and pro fessional workers in Dakota County Human Services has been on strike since May 2. County ad ministrators report that human services are being "adequately delivered" through use of super- visors, employees from other N�:hwest attendants rculstrike Sus l ►de'S r,k By Scott Carlson Staff Writer ; Northwest Airlines' 6,500 flight attend-. ;ants will go on strike at 11:01 p.m. Friday ,if the Eagan -based carrier hasn't reached a tentative contract settlement with them by that deadline, their union leaders an 'nounced Monday. • 4 Officials of Teamsters Local 2747 made +that vow after they said nearly 95' percent. of the flight attendants' have. voted to give ,them power to call a walkout against \, , Northwest. More than 5,000 attendants eo took part in the strike vote, they said. m"Thestrike authorization reflects the • •� deplorable state of labor relations at . . Northwest Airlines," said Dennis Quinn, Teamsters' national strike coordinator. • Northwest spokesman Red Tyler re- sponded; "That is part of the negotiating process and doesn't imply there will be a strike. We remain optimistic that we . will be able to reach a settlement." • Tyler said the Teamsters have agreed to-. meet today with federal mediator Robert Brown to resume contract talks with Northwest. The session will be the first Please see Northwest/5A minter, our customers natural gas. This land drives prices:up. , 1 slacks off, as it will again: These price changes show up on.:your bill as "pur- chased:gas adjust- meets," 'allowed by egulators with 'no profit to NSP .;..:ra-.■._�o 4K St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch Northwest Airlines: A New Era Headquarters gives further boost to booming Eagan Sunday, October 5, 1986\ In real estate and land develop- ment parlance, some buildings have higher "visibility" than oth- ers. The term often refers to the building's owner rather than its ap- pearance and, implicitly, to the in- nate human tendency to follow the leader. Northwest Airlines, which is completing construction of a $16 million corporate headquarters in northeastern Eagan near I-494 and Dodd Road, is considered the kind of project that will spur others in the vicinity. "Northwest Airlines, given its visibility, adds to the credibility of locating your business home in that area," says Boyd Stofer, senior vice president and director of de- velopment for United Properties of Bloomington. "There's no question that having a world headquarters that's as visi- ble as Northwest's, that has the kind of identity that Northwest has, is a factor in attracting more industry to the community," says Eagan City Administrator Tom Hedges. If Hedges sounds hopeful, it's probably because his city has long suffered from circumstances that have inhibited its development. The problem, as Hedges describes it, was very basic: "It was hard to find us. It was hard to get here." Then, two years ago, the long- awaited I-494 crossing over the Minnesota River finally was com- pleted. And last year, the I-35E ex- tension north into St. Paul finally became reality. The result for Eagan has been a housing boom that has made it the fastest -growing community in Min- nesota. For the last two years, the city has been the leading residen- tial builder in the state. This year, Eagan will issue about 2,500 build- ing permits and its population will rise from about 35,000 to more than 37,000, Hedges says. The growth of residential devel- opment works hand in hand with commercial and industrial growth, Stofer says. "Historically," he says, "the westward development along I-494 has been related to the concentra- tion of executive housing in the Northwest's new headquarters is a bright, airy building located near 1-494 and Dodd Road in northeastern Eagan. southwest suburbs, as opposed to the southeast." The river crossing is a big rea- son for the building booms in Eagan and Mendota Heights. But even though they are recognized as St. Paul suburbs, they've been growing in great part through ex- tension of the development along I- 494 in eastern Bloomington, Stofer says. Still, much of Eagan and sur- rounding Dakota County are con- sidered by many to be part of the St. Paul area, a region that has had a relatively thin share of the Twin Cities area's many corporate head- quarters. The days of one-sided develop- ment along I-494 are over, Stofer maintains. "It'll be going both ways now," he says. "It's gone too far west. There's traffic congestion that gets worse the farther west you go, and you're farther from the airport." He considers the Northwest site to be ideal because of its access to both cities, as well as to the air- port - Northwest's management picked it for those reasons, but according to Robert Ritchie, the company's retired director of facilities plan- ning who worked as a construction consultant for Northwest on the headquarters project, it also was picked for its ambience. "They liked the seclusion," he said. "They liked the ponds, the rolling hills." To fit in with the pleasant sur- roundings, Minneapolis architects Thorsen & Thorshov Associates de- signed a bright, airy, 267,000- square-foot building of glass and Mankato stone. The building's gen- eral contractor was M.A. Morten - son Co., Golden Valley. The structure, three stories high and built into a hillside, will be home for about 1,000 employees. The new Northwest Airlines world headquarters is a far cry from the drab, windowless, institutional green -walled building now occu- pied by its administration at the airport. The current corporate headquar- ters will be turned into a mainte- nance center. According to Ritchie, that was the plan for the building all along, from the first days of its planning in 1956. The idea was "to build the maximum amount of space with the dollars available." The building, finished in 1961, cost Northwest $18 million. In 1970, an addition of two hangars for the new 747s cost another $18 million. Northwest's management decid- ed to build at the Eagan site in February 1985, before serious merger talks began with Republic. According to Ritchie, the size of the building was not altered to al- low for the merger, but the merger did mean changes in internal space planning. The building rests on 158 acres that Northwest purchased from two Edina men, Lawrence Laukka and Warren Beck, who had bought it from Dayton Hudson Corp. An adjacent 250 acres also had been owned by Dayton Hudson, but now is the property of Wachovia Bank and Trust of Winston-Salem, N.C. Sunday, October 5, 1986 Northwest Airlines: 1\' A New Era St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch 3K Airline takes risks to enter critical new stage By Dick Dahl Northwest Airlines, one might conclude from the evidence, opens the riskiest, most critical chapter in company history when it begins flying its greatly expanded sched- ule three days from now. When it bought Republic Airlines in August for $884 million, North- west strapped itself with a debt load unthinkable only a few years ago. Now acquisitions, bankruptcies and intensifying competition are reshuffling the rankings of the ma- jor air carriers every few weeks. Delta just announced plans to buy Western. Texas Air's proposed ac- quisitions of Eastern and People Express would make it the nation's biggest airline. And at Northwest, big events that used to be spaced out over years are being compressed into months. Northwest completed the Repub- lic deal Aug. 12 and officially merges the flight schedules of the two airlines on Wednesday. It is in the process of buying half owner- ship of a computerized reservation system. And in about a month, Northwest will move to a gleaming new headquarters nestled among the hills of Eagan six miles east of the Minneapolis -St. Paul Interna- tional Airport. The move is a striking symbol of the change overtaking Northwest; the existing headquarters at the airport is a windowless, bunker - like building that has been North- west's main base since 1961 and the days when the company presi- dent Donald Nyrop insisted on the most conservative business opera- tion in the airline industry. Grow or die Many analysts have concluded that Northwest must transform it- self into a so-called "mega -car- rier" to survive in the volatile, pre- datory atmosphere engendered by airline deregulation. The old maxim, "grow or die," has become gospel. By far the most visible sign of expansion is the Republic acquisi- tion, which plainly will not be car- ried off without growing pains. The deal creates some duplication of 'obs, which led to layoff notices in Steven G. Rothmeier Size is a factor mates that the joint operation spends at least that much again an- nually for supplies and services, taxes and capital outlays. But the growth goes beyond the Republic merger. Northwest re- cently placed the largest aircraft order in its history for Boeing 747- 400s and 757s, bought MLT Vaca- tions (a large wholesaler of vaca- tion travel plans), agreed to acquire half of TWA's computer- ized reservations system and reached a marketing agreement to feed passengers to and from North- west flights via PSA, the most heavily traveled carrier on the West Coast. A new era "This is 1986. not 1976," says Steven G. Rothmeier, Northwest's 39-year-old chairman and chief ex- ecutive officer. "When you look at how the air- line industry was evolving in the early stages of deregulation, it was apparent that there was going to be some restructuring of the busi- ness. What showed up very clearly was that size was going to be a very key factor for long-term suc- cess and prosperity." Benjamin Griggs, Northwest's executive vice president for opera- tions, remembers how cost control, under Nyrop, was considered little short of sacrosanct. Griggs, one of the airline's highest ranking execu- The red tails of Northwest planes line up at the gates of west and Republic were based here, the combined company Minneapolis -St. Paul International Airport. Since both North- is by far the dominant carrier in the Twin Cities market. tion Act of 1978. Now we have to be risk takers." In buying Republic and financ- ing other arrangements intended to improve Northwest's chances in this era of airline hyper -competi- tion, Northwest's debt load will in- crease from $117 million to $1.6 billion — from 12 percent of capi- talization to 64 percent. As Rothmeier puts it: "In this en- vironment, it takes a different cor- porate structure. We've got to have some leverage in the balance sheet." ■ ■ ■ While it's tempting to look at the magnitude of the Northwest- Rennhlir mornor and nrnelaim Associated Press Teamsters' national strike coordinator Dennis Quinn, center, announces the decision of Northwest's flight attendants to strike. Northwest Continued from Page 1A time the two sides have met since the National Mediation Board re- leased them last month from man- datory negotiations. "We are willing to bargain as long as necessary to reach a con- clusion," Tyler said. Since Northwest's merger with Republic Airlines in August 1986, the company and the union have been unable to resolve differences over wages, fringe benefits and work rules. Currently, 3,700 origi- nal Northwest flight attendants and 2,800 former Republic attend- ants are working under separate contracts. The Mediation Board's release last month started a 30-day negoti- ations cooling -off period, which ex- pires at 11 p.m. Friday. After that deadline, the union is free to call a strike while the company can im- plement its final contract offer. If there is a strike, Teamsters leaders said they are confident they can shut down or sharply cur- tail Northwest's operations. They said other Northwest unions are being asked to support the flight attendants in the event of a walk- out. Peter Dodge, spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, said his Northwest members are sym- pathetic with the flight attendants' labor battle. "We are preparing ourselves for whatever you decide to do on Friday night," he told sev- eral hundred flight attendants at strike rally Monday night in Bloomington. But Dodge said his union won't decide Friday night on how to re- spond to a flight attendants' strike. "Whatever we do, all the pilots will do it," he said. Dan Cannella, section chairman of the Transport Workers Union, told flight attendants that his members' existing contract in- cludes a no -strike clause. "I don't know if we will be honoring your picket line but there are other ways of supporting a strike," he said. Guy Cook, president of North- west's 20,000-member machinists union, could not be reached for comment. Although Northwest has pledged to keep flying during a flight at- tendants' strike, Tyler said the company expects to settle the dis- pute. Northwest has successfully averted strike deadlines with the flight attendants in its last three contracts, he said. But Teamster leaders said things will be different this time if North- west doesn't back away from its "take it or leave it" negotiating style. Northwest is being hurt by its failure to resolve labor and opera- tional problems since the compa- ny's merger, they added. The com- pany's 4,600 airline pilots and about 10,000 ground workers are without new contracts. "Northwest employees will not accept concessionary contracts in the midst of record profits," Quinn said. Quinn's comment referred to news last week that Northwest fin- ished 1987 with a 34 percent in- crease in profits. Tyler said Northwest would re- serve further comments for the bargaining table. "We're not inter- ested in trading barbs from a news conference," he said. Iff. n money f Augsburg College this month, acted to the news that the man ,000 donation to your institution had harassed Twin Cities of hate mail over the past 14 lsion for Elroy Stock's vicious, een to give, the money back. t do that. smaller gifts from the same no one could have connected the deeds. There was no reason to 1d Mr. Stock. ugsburg should feel no coney. While the torrent of racist ble, his income came the old - long career as an accountant. erver. college he benefited and then y to Augsburg with one hand and, unsigned letters to its president iage in Mr. Anderson's family wanted to teich people that ,_made his generous gift to a seeks racial and religious ages brought worry, unease and s homes, gives the impression of a en applied to construction of•a omrnunication, specialized for nd of communication with a dark • s to be named fbr the twisted Mr. a sound decision. It would have ith the shining motto, "Through in stonethe name of a man whose IND RAISERS p nagging ob description as editorial writers, Imes we get as tired of nagging as Yet, we keep on doing it, hoping to hich to nag legislators is their fund-raising events during stitute for armed robbery, with the rs who want special help for their 'e is usuallya fear that failure to iaign kitty will result in retribution. have been griping about this advocates has weakened. Last ough" and approved a bill that mpaign contributions from gular legislative sessions. show how wise it has become on shed by Rep. Linda Scheid, DFL= a hearing Wednesday before a Rep. Howard Orenstein, DFL-St nasek, DFL-New Prague, lending cheid is hopeful the bill will easily ecome law. , ' .here are no amendments that e can promise the naggingwill 11 0 a/,58 A4nc7 floNEE2m�ES5 D(SPATU•{—j It's time for vehicle I cannot believe that as many people are in favor of the vehicle emission inspection pro- posal as your poll claims. Many of us will suffer severe financial set- backs because of this. If your car is very old, has high miles, or has been tampered with, • •• you may be in for an expensive surprise. We may very well have to junk a very service- able vehicle, or spend $2,000 to have the en- gine overhauled. • How about cars that were bought. used • • from a dealer that already were tampered with? Who will pay for fixing thern? fects that will lead to co LYLE GONZAGOWSKI The objection made St. Paul quire vehicle inspectioi ■ v e , was the low-income peo It is these same low-inc Regarding the latest Northstar poll, I can't ' least' afford to waste tl . believe that 60. percent of the people polled be saved by installing were in favor of mandatory vehicle inspec-. sticking the choke, cha tions. The cost of $10 would be just another replacing a bad plug wit way of the state getting its hands on people's hard-earned money. Think of the money it would ,make off fines if equipment didn't complypwith standards. To be published, original and carry a 1 verification purposes your address and pho to: Letters to the Edi neer Press Dispatch, Paul, Minn., .55101. LEii' TO THE ROBIN VITEK Promoting dra Newport The proposal dealing ® • ' e of clean needles to addii The time has come for vehicle inspections. ; :spread of AIDS is a pror. Legislation to clear our air can also protect '. ' Here we have a grow consumers. It can make then` aware of de- have decided on a certai MOSt writers angry Your Feb. 17 editorial, "Avoid unfairlink- ing of Eastcliff, `Focus,'" ignores vital clues in the editorial itself: "Commitment to Focus is both much, bigger and more elusive than Eastcliff. It is the still -forming plan inspired by Mr. Keller . "• and, "details of the plan are still being worked out ... " The obvious — and fair — link between Eastcliff and "Focus" is that both cases re- , fleet the university's habit of spending mon- ey without clear plans -or fiscal restraint. • At Eastcliff, we've seen how President Keller handles elusive details and "still -forming plans." Yes, Commitment to Focus should be judged on, its own merits. If it's clearly for the good of our state — if costs are in line with benefits, and if we can afford it at the brink of recession — we'll buy it. But legisla- tors must be wary. The same team that man- aged the Eastcliff debacle is once again ask- ing us for a financial "commitment" up front — and vaguely promising "focus" some- where down the line. JACK P. MALONEY St. Paul • • e Mark Morse Eastcliff, the presi with a cash flow of abc the regents are not abl somebody else has to.d( u The writer is a Un professor of: math. ® ■ Emperor. Nero piled with snow from the. All • , 1,•11., Northwest revises headquais expansion New proposal would double size of plan submitted to Eagan in '86 Associated Press Northwest Airlines has presented to Eagan city planners a major expan- sion of its plans for enlarging the company's Eagan headquarters site, a company attorney said. The new headquarters will total 2.25 million square feet, double the con- struction plan drawn up last August before Northwest's merger with Re- public Airlines, said Timothy Thorn- ton, a Northwest attorney. Northwest's master plan also envi- sions completing the project in 2005 instead of 2020, Thornton said. A Northwest spokesman saidFriday that the plan submitted to Eagan rep- resents a preliminary development plan. "Obviously, expansion of any kind will be linked to the continued finan- St. Cloud bishop to bring Y and hard -to -shed basebal than they do in the chancellery," he said with a laugh. Hanus' fascination with technology apparently reflects his knack for efficiency. Friends and associates describe him as a likable, good- humored administrator who runs a tight ship without crimping the crew. And they predict his flexible -but -firm management style will come in handy in his new job as head of the 150,000-member St. Cloud diocese. Like current Bishop George Speltz, Hanus is a staunch believer in Vatican teachings, they said. But Hanus may be more relaxed than his predecessor. cial success of the company," spokes- man Bob Gibbons told the St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch. NWA Inc., the corporate parent of Northwest, has proposed building a computer center, training center, ho- tel and several office buildings at the site. But the airline acknowledges that its plan hinges on solving traffic conges- tion anticipated on roads around its 190-acre parcel in northeastern Ea- gan. The site is adjacent to Interstate Hwy. 494. "While this is a major development and will require a complete review of all the site planning issues that are typically raised by a project of this scale, there has been one overriding issue that we have all recognized from the very beginning. That issue Expansion continued on page 18A ...6 .,J .,.., ..u.15 SJa fn,vya, VT IV wore her paper badges and by the several dozen red balloons that deco- rated the conventional hall promot- ing her candidacy. Many, including coalition members, thought Farmer would receive the first endorsement. But as the day wore on and some of Farmer's balloons began to lose air, her candidacy sagged as well. By the seventh and final ballot, she had no hope of winning DFL nomination. auu ywarury vy urc rvur VURIl cuar lengers who tried but failed to win endorsement Saturday. Filing for of- fice does not close until Tuesday. The nonpartisan primary will narrow the field to eight candidates for the general election. As balloting dragged on for six hours Saturday and coalition candidates held their early strength, they gained confidence and began working the Indian ceremonial site destroyed by vandals tinning out wnat memoers say is a large number of dissident parents who feel disenfranchised by the cur- rent school board. The size of that group is difficult to gauge, for if the Expansion Continued is traffic," John Shardlow, a planning consultant retained by the airline, said in a letter to city officials on May 15. Northwest has moved about 1,200 employees into its $17 million corpo- rate headquarters, which opened late last year in Eagan. The company now is building a $19.6 million flight training center for its subsidiary, Northwest Aeronautical Training Corp. Those two buildings total 522,609 square feet. Additional buildings would be built over the next 18 years, according to the preliminary development plan. While the plan does not divulge ulti- mate employment levels on the prop- erty, another report estimates at least 1,750 employees. Minnesota has about 13,400 Northwest employees. Thornton said Northwest also would continue to use the buildings it occu- pies at Minneapolis -St. Paul Interna- tional Airport, but all computer oper- ations would be consolidated and moved to the 300,000-square-foot computer center planned in Eagan. Besides its passenger and freight op- erations serving about 40 states and 19 foreign countries, Northwest is part-owner of PARS, a flight reserva- tions network, and Mainline Travel Inc., a tour wholesaling agency. in eacn otner s nomes to staging an unexpected victory that is sure to bring them additional supporters and that will give their candidates a boost toward the fall election. from page 17A The enlarged development plan greatly exceeds the square footage Northwest is allowed to build under a permit issued two years ago by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Northwest's permit limits develop- ment to 845,090 square feet through 2005. An agency official said the air- line has not yet requested a permit modification. "We are very excited about it," Ea- gan City Administrator Thomas Hedges said of Northwest's plans. "It will generate a tremendous amount of tax base and obviously provide very good job opportunities for our community." 6 7-ate- 7 .:Northwest revises headquarters expansion New proposal would double size of plan submitted to Ea g gan in '86 Associated Press ton, a Northwest attorney. cial success of the company," spokes- 190-acre parcel in northeastern Ea - man Bob Gibbons told the St. Paul gan. The site is adjacent to Interstate Northwest Airlines has presented to Northwest's master plan also envi- Pioneer Press Dispatch. H Eagan city planners a major expan- sions completing the project in 2005 wy. 494. sion of its plans for enlarging the instead of 2020, Thornton said. company's Eagan headquarters site, a NWA Inc., the corporate parent of "While this is a major development Northwest, has proposed company attorney said. A Northwest spokesman saidFriday computer centerptraining enter,nho- all dthe l sitel planning uire a m ssueslete rethat are that the plan submitted to Eagan rep- tel and several office buildings at the typically; raised by a project of this The new headquarters will total 2.25 resents a preliminary development site. million square feet, double the con- plan. scale, there has been one overriding struction plan drawn up last August issue that we have all recognized before Northwest's merger with Re- "Obviously, expansion of an But the airline. acknowledges that its . from the very beginning..That issue Y kind plan hinges on solving traffic conges- j. i public Airlines, said Timothy Thorn- will be linked to the continued finan- tion anticipated 'on roads around its Expansion continued on page 18A St. Cloud bishop to bring I and hard -to -shed basebal than they do in•the chancellery," he said with a laugh. • Hantis' fascination with technology apparently reflects his knack for . efficiency. Friends and associates describe him as a likable, good- humored administrator who runs a tight ship without crimping the crew. And they predict his flexible -but -firm management style will come in handy in his new job as head of the 150,000-member St. Cloud diocese. Like current Bishop' George Speltz, Hanus is a staunch believer in Vatican teachings, they.said. But Hanus may be more relaxed than his predecessor. uwuttii W pctv1C win) wore her paper badges and by the peveral dozen red balloons that deco - 'fated the conventional hall promot- ing her candidacy. Many, including coalition members, thought Farmer would receive the first endorsement. But as the day wore on and some of Farmer's balloons began to lose air, her candidacy sagged as well. By the seventh and final ballot, she had no iftope of winning DFL nomination. anu possioiy oy ine lour otner cnai- lengers who tried but failed to win endorsement Saturday. Filing for of- fice does not close until Tuesday. The nonpartisan primary will narrow the field to eight candidates for the general election. As balloting dragged on for six hours Saturday and coalition candidates held their early strength, they gained confidence and began working the Indian ceremonial site destroyed by vandals .t. - ---_.. .....1 ... l.....n 1... f6n.. nn.,AL turning out what members say is a large number of dissident parents who feel disenfranchised by the cur- rent school board. The size of that group is difficult to gauge, for if the in eacn otner s nomes to staging an unexpected victory that is sure to bring them additional supporters and that will give their candidates a boost toward the fall election. Expansion Continued from page 17A is traffic," John Shardlow, a planning consultant retained by the airline, said in a letter to city officials on May 15. Northwest has moved about 1,200 employees into its $17 million corpo- rate headquarters, which opened late last year in Eagan. The company now is building a $19.6, million flight training center for its subsidiary, Northwest Aeronautical Training Corp. Those two buildings total 522,609 square feet. Additional buildings would be built over the next 18 years, according to the preliminary development plan. While the plan does not divulge ulti- mate employment levels on the prop- erty, another report estimates at least 1,750 employees. Minnesota has about 13,400 Northwest employees. Thornton said Northwest also would continue to use the buildings it occu- pies at Minneapolis -St. Paul Interna- tional Airport, but all computer oper- ations would be consolidated and moved to the 300,000-square-foot computer center planned in Eagan. Besides its passenger and freight op- erations serving about 40 states and 19 foreign countries, Northwest is part-owner of PARS, a flight reserva- tions network, and Mainline Travel Inc., a tour wholesaling agency. The enlarged development plan greatly exceeds the square footage Northwest is allowed to build under a permit issued two years ago by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Northwest's permit limits develop- ment to 845,090 square feet through 2005. An agency official said the air- line has not, yet requested a permit modification. I "We are very: excited about it," Ea- gan City Administrator Thomas Hedges said iof Northwest's plans. "It will generate a tremendous amount of tax base and obviously provide very good job opportunities for our community,",' SUN Eagan edition NEWS 2. NOTES VI April 3, 2003 Layoffs hit NWA Blaming decreased travel due to the situa- tion in the Middle East, one of Eagan's largest employers announced layoffs less than 24 hours into the war with Iraq that will affect near- ly 2,000 people statewide. "Clearly, the last two years have been a diffi- cult and painful period for our employees," said Northwest Chief Oper- ating Officer Richard Anderson after the an- nouncement was made March 21. PAGE 2A Scores above average District 19 third, fifth and eighth grade students consistently scored above the na- tional average this year in the achievement and ability standardized tests. "In general, our stu- dents are scoring well above the national norm," said Sharon Davenport, District 196 assessment specialist. PAGE 8A Soldiers head out An overflow crowd of family and friends at the Inver Grove Heights Ar- mory March 29 bid farewell to 26 members of the 134th Signal Bat- talion as the soldiers prepared to head to war. PAGE 10A Index Opinion 6A Let it Be Known 21A Worship Directory 22A Calendar 24A Sports 25A Classifieds/Sports Extra ..1 B Contact Us News 952-806-0072 Circulation 952-392-6860 Classifieds 952-392-6888 Or visit us online at www.mnsun.com 754 Newsstand 2 Sections. Vol. 28. No. 14 ©2003 Sun Newspapers K CUR Haro leaves with SI I Superintendent leaves District 196 severanc used sick The R of Educ BY ERICA CHRISTOFFER inal "mi Sun Newspapers owed h' ance cal Superintendent John Haro left District 196 nally re March 31 with a severance package about Rosee $113,000 less than originally calculated. the sick a Haro's contract requires the district to pay ly incorre him $237,031.44, which includes six months Haro March 31 South St. Paul woman keeps on trucking Dart Transit's Carol Ann Schlussler won award for top independent truck owner, driver BY JOSHUA NICHOLS Sun Newspapers At first sight Carol Ann Schlussler looks like somebody's grand- mother, which in fact she is, with 11 grandchildren and 16 great- grandchildren. But the white-haired, ener- getic, 61-year-old South St. Paul native is also one of the country's top truck drivers. Schlussler, an independent truck driver contracting with Eagan -based Dart Transit Com- pany, was named the Truckload Carriers Association's 2002 "Inde- pendent Contractor of the Year" earlier this month. "I just love to drive," Schlus- sler said. "I love our country and I love seeing different states and the changing seasons. I like seeing spring in different parts of the country. I just enjoy life." It was an event that nearly took that life away five decades ago that led to Schlussler's drive to be- come a truck driver. At age 11, she contracted polio and was quarantined at the old Ancher Hospital in St. Paul, where she was kept in isolation away from family and friends. A truck driver who made daily de- liveries to the hospital befriended her during that lonely time. "It was so boring and there was nothing to do," Schlussler said. "Everybody around me was sick and I was scared, so I started star- ing out the window just for some- thing to do." One day she spotted the truck driver and when he waved to her, Carol Ann Schlussler ation's 2002 Indepen she waved back. She for him and one da cardboard sign read are you doing?" He signs and waving to was released from t "I just thought th nice and so kind to of his busy sched lonely little girl who better," Schlussle promised God that if of the hospital I wo truck driver so I co ers." That ambition to Where the communi looks for Sun Newspapers • www.m 952-392-6888 -O3-atio c - www.mnSun.com Eagan -based Northwest's layoffs to affect local workers BY JOSHUA NICHOLS Sun Newspapers Blaming decreased travel due to the situation in the Middle East, one of Eagan's largest employers announced layoffs less than 24 hours into the war with Iraq that will affect nearly 2,000 peo- ple statewide. "Clearly, the last two years have been a difficult and painful period for our em- ployees," said Northwest Chief Operat- ing Officer Richard Anderson after the announcement was made March 21. "Due to the weak demand for business travel, which emerged in March 2001, the subsequent impact of the terrorist at- tacks on the United States in September of that year, and now, armed conflict with Iraq, we have been forced to reduce our workforce by some 17,000 employee positions." Northwest already had laid off about 12,000 employees due to the slump in the airline industry after the terrorist at- tacks Sept. 11, 2001. The airline is Eagan's second largest employer with about 2,400 employees. However, almost as quickly as the lay- offs were announced, leaders of the var- ious unions representing Northwest em- ployees fired back. "It's very obvious these layoffs are well planned and not caused by the war," said Jeff Mathews, contract coordinator for the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal As- sociation (AMFA). "Northwest appears to be using the Iraq conflict as an excuse to accomplish a prior agenda that has lit- tle to do with Iraq." With that in mind, AMFA filed a griev- ance March 25 against Northwest over the layoffs. "No one knows yet whether the Iraq conflict will last for weeks or months or longer," Mathews said. "We dispute the use of this conflict as a pretext to strong- arm us into concessions." The layoffs would affect a total of 4,900 Northwest employees. In addition, the company is also reducing its flight sched- ule by 12 percent in response to what it says is a drop in passenger demand spurred because of the war in Iraq. "The carrier is taking this action be- cause of a drop in passenger demand due to both the threat of and now the com- mencement of hostilities with Iraq," read a statement released announcing the layoffs. "As world events unfold, Northwest will continue to monitor pas- senger demand to determine whether ad- ditional actions are necessary" Northwest said it would make the cuts through layoffs, attrition, voluntary leaves and by leaving open positions un- filled. A relief package including pay, medical coverage and flight privileges will be offered to the affected employees, the airline said. The cuts include 2,000 mechanics, 1,400 flight attendants, 250 pilots and 300 management positions, said Paul Volker, legislative officer for the Aircraft Me- chanics Fraternal Association Local 33. However, those numbers could become smaller due to early retirements and bumping rights some employees have. Because of the reductions, Northwest also plans to remove about 20 aircraft from service, affecting schedules with `Woofer and Hoofer' festival/walk slated Due to the weak demand for business travel, which emerged in March 2001, the subsequent impact of the terrorist attacks on the United States in September of that year, and now, armed conflict with Iraq, we have been forced to reduce our workforce by some 17,000 employee positions.' — Northwest CEO Richard Anderson the airline's North American, Asia/Pa- cific and European routes. Among those affected by the layoffs is Apple Valley resident Amy Armstrong, a flight attendant who will be laid off as of April 7. Armstrong, who makes $28,000 a year, said she was frustrated with the lay- offs. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do next," Armstrong said. "It really seems to be that the war is an excuse for them to do this. I'm angry right now." Armstrong's roommate, Billie Jo Wambach, who is also a flight attendant with Northwest, also learned that she would be laid off, Armstrong said. Employees like Armstrong will find a tough job market made harder by a lack of state money to provide job training and placement assistance. Minnesota has less than $6 million left in its dislo- cated worker program and is currently facing a projected $4.2 billion deficit over the next two years. State officials plan to ask the U.S. De- partment of Labor for a $13.9 million emergency grant to provide services and benefits for the Minnesota residents who will lose their jobs in the layoffs, accord- ing to a press release from Gov. Tim Paw- lenty. Those funds will be necessary be- cause besides the affected Northwest em- ployees, Pawlenty estimated it at least 4,000 related jobs would be affected. "Our research indicates that for every job lost from Minnesota's airline indus- try after Sept. 11, an additional two from supporting and related industries were lost as well," Pawlenty said. Bobby DePace, president of District 143 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), said the last wave of layoffs af- fected between 3,000 and 3,5000 of his members. He expects that about 600 of his members could be laid off this time around but said he was hopeful that peo- ple would start flying again and the workers could be recalled. "I believe that the business will come back," De Pace said. "It's really more a matter of managing to hang in there until it does come back. Especially with summer coming around, if people keep flying domestically, it will get better." SHORT Spring has sprung and that means the Woofer and Hoofer Pet Festival and Walk. This year's event will take place 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 10, at the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley. The Minnesota Valley Humane Soci- ety is currently accepting silent auction items from local businesses as well as ap- plications from those interested in hav- ing a booth at the event. These "Dog Gone Wild" activities benefit MVHS and the Minnesota Zoo's AAZK chapter. Information: 952-894-5000, Ext. 16 (Kris Best) or Kris@MVHSpets.org or visit the Web site www.MVHSpets.org or visit wwwmnzoo.org. Department 56 collectors invited -to retirement sale The annual Department 56 retire1 ment announcement is an anticipated day for the holiday display collector.,This year, the day arrives a month earlier on Nov. 8 at Collectors Paradise in Eagan. Department 56 retires products from a 'number of collectible lines, including the Heritage Village Collection, the Orig- inal Snow Village, Snowbabies, Merry Makers, All Through the House and Win- ter Silhouette. A North Pole series, "Start a Tradition Set," is being introduced this year. A por- tion of the proceeds from the sale of this set will benefit the Minneapolis Ronald McDonald House. Fairfield Suites manager named for Eagan hotel -A 105-unit. Fairfield Suites by Marriot, featuring king or queen sized beds, a hospi- tality center, indooi pool and whirlpool, is under construction at Pilot Knob Road and Duck -wood Drive in Eagan. Steve Schlundt of St. Paul has been named general manag- . er of the new hotel. Schlundt, a graduate of University of Wisconsin -Stout, has a bache- , toes degree in hotel and restaurant man- agement. In 1992, he was awarded Marriofs Manager of the Year Award. Lockheed Martin earns Japanese P-3 contract .Lockheed Martin Tactical Defense 'Systems of Eagan received a $1.4 million contract from Fujitsu Corp. for thepro- duction of display control systems to be •used in conjunction with the Japanese P- 3 surveillance aircraft fleet. Lockheed Martin's Tactical Defense Systems is a leader in the design and in- tegration of information management and communication systems used by U.S. and foreign defense agencies. Northwest Airlines , reports quarterly profit FNorthwest Airlines Corp. reported a net income of $253.9 million for the sum- mer quarter ending Sept. 30. The perfor- Rmance is a $22.8 million increase over ;' similar reports -for 1995. t. John Dasburg, president and chief exec- utive officer for Northwest, said third guar- ' ter results were affected by the federal tick- V. et tax, a rise in fuel costs and a weakened • yen. Those variables are expected to affect ithe fourth quarter of business as well. Overall, Northwest reported net in- come of $510.1 million from Jan. 1 to Sept. V, 1996. • - Travelers may also save on weekend travel through the new CyberSaverfare. found on Northwest's Web site a www.nwa.com. te: Concerns rom Page 1A mployer has sold land to Pulte in the past, e said. Commissioners Mark. Miller and n Schindle voted against the proposal for easons that matched some of the residents, ho packed City Hall for the public hearing. Residents say the housing mix, which equates to 4.28 units per acre, is too dense and will create traffic and environ- mental problems in the area. ' According to the proposed zoning, the maximum density allowed could go as high as six units per acre. Chairman Miller opposed the plan be- cause the southwest corner of the site "looks awfully tight," he said. In September, Pulte had proposed a mix. of 502 homes, but the APC sent Pulte back to the drawing board. The new plan reduces the overall number of units by 12. Density was further reduced by re- placing some townhome units with fewer single family lots. Pulte said they can't afford to drop the density any further without raising the price of the homes.. "Club Home buyers are on fixed in- comes. These would be the most expen- sive we've built," said Gary Grant, a.. Pulte vice president. Pulte wants to build four different styles of homes — single family, court and club one - level homes and village townhomes. They call this concept "life cycle" housing. One 26-year resident spoke in favor of the Pulte proposal. "Nobody objected to us moving here and we didn't object to people moving after us. But now I want to leave my large home and I want a one -level home," said Ann Pahos of Eagan. "We have roots here. This is home and I don't want to leave." APC Commissioner Carla Heyl agreed with Pahos, that Eagan needs smaller, lower -priced housing. Pahos and Heyl were outnumbered by Associated Press Northwest revises headquarters expansion New proposal would double size of plan submitted to Eagan in '86 Northwest Airlines has presented to Eagan city planners a major expan- sion of its plans for enlarging the company's Eagan headquarters site, a company attorney said. The new headquarters will total 2.25 million square feet, double the con- struction plan drawn up last August before Northwest's merger with Re- public Airlines, said Timothy Thorn- ton, a Northwest attorney. Northwest's master plan also envi- sions completing the project in 2005 instead of 2020, Thornton said. A Northwest spokesman saidFriday that the plan submitted to Eagan rep- resents a preliminary development plan. "Obviously, expansion of any kind will be linked to the continued finan- St. Cloud bishop to bring l- and hard -to -shed basebal than they do in'the chancellery," he said with a laugh. Hanes' fascination with technology apparently reflects his knack for . efficiency. Friends and associates describe him as a likable, good- humored administrator who runs a tight ship without crimping the crew. And they predict his flexible -but -firm management style will come in handy in his new job as head of the 150,000-member St. Cloud diocese. Like current Bishop' George Speltz, Hanus is a staunch believer in Vatican teachings, they said. But Hanus may be more relaxed than his predecessor. cial success of the company," spokes- man Bob Gibbons told the St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch. NWA Inc., the corporate parent of Northwest, has proposed building a computer center, training center, ho- tel and several office buildings at the site. But the airline acknowledges that its plan hinges on solving traffic conges- tion anticipated .on roads around its 190-acte parcel in northeastern Ea- gan. The site is adjacent to Interstate Hwy. 494. "While this is a major development and will require a complete review of all the site planning issues that are typically raised by a project of this scale, there has been one overriding issue that we have all recognized from the a very beginning. That issue Expansion continued on page 18A e..6 vj CAI, aauuaW1 l)1 4.) UlAC WIIO wore her paper badges and by the several dozen red balloons that deco- °'ated the conventional hall promot- ng her candidacy. Many, including coalition members, thought Farmer would receive the first endorsement. But as the day wore on and some of Farmer's balloons began to lose air, her candidacy sagged as well. By the seventh and final ballot, she had no ;hope of winning DFL nomination. anu posstmly oy the tour otner cnai- lengers who tried but failed to win endorsement Saturday. Filing for of- fice does not close until Tuesday. The nonpartisan primary will narrow the field to eight candidates for the general election. As balloting dragged on for six hours Saturday and coalition candidates held their early strength, they gained confidence and began working the iridian ceremonial site destroyed by vandals I. turning out wnat members say is a large number of dissident parents who feel disenfranchised by the cur- rent school board. The size of that group is difficult to gauge, for if the Expansion Continued is traffic," John Shardlow, a planning consultant retained by the airline, said in a letter to city officials on May 15. Northwest has moved about 1,200 employees into its $17 million corpo- rate headquarters, which opened late last year in Eagan. The company now is building a $19.6 million flight training center for its subsidiary, Northwest Aeronautical Training Corp. Those two buildings total 522,609 square feet. Additional buildings would be built over the next 18 years, according to the preliminary development plan. While the plan does not divulge ulti- mate employment levels on the prop- erty, another report estimates at least 1,750 employees. Minnesota has about 13,400 Northwest employees. Thornton said Northwest also would continue to use the buildings it occu- pies at Minneapolis -St. Paul Interna- tional Airport, but all computer oper- ations would be consolidated and moved to the 300,000-square-foot computer center planned in Eagan. • Besides its passenger and freight op- erations serving about 40 states and 19 foreign countries,, Northwest is part-owner of PARS, a flight reserva- tions network, and Mainline Travel Inc., a tour wholesaling agency. in eacn otner s nomes to staging an unexpected victory that is sure to bring them additional supporters and that will give their candidates a boost toward the fall election. from page 17A The enlarged development plan greatly exceeds the square footage Northwest is allowed to build under a permit issued two years ago by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Northwest's permit limits develop- ment to 845,090 square feet through 2005. An agency official said the air- line has not. yet requested a permit modification. I "We are very excited about it," Ea- gan City Administrator Thomas Hedges said:of Northwest's plans. "It will generate a tremendous amount of tax base and obviously provide very good job opportunities for our community.:' Fotzt!K .N DS - NorkkioeSt Mte(iv!p� 02001 - t2A10 Fo ��ER 6LL 09 -.b-.Zoo Andy Blenkush/Sun Newspapers Looks like rain Saturday morning's sky brought a warning of the rains to come during Lone Oak Days at Holz Farm Park in Eagan. - NWA ayo cou d be costly to Eagan pact on Eagan, where 2,500 of Northwest's employees live. "Northwest Airlines plays a vital role in the economy of Min- nesota and the nation, serving both travelers and businesses, and is a major employer in the With the aftermath of the Twin Cities area, with some Sept. 11 terrorist attacks keep- 2,500 employees in Eagan, ing many people from flying, alone," Mayor Pat Awada said. Eagan -based Northwest Air- "It is imperative that both the lines cut more than 9,000 jobs federal and state governments Sept. 21, including up to 4,500 hold out a helping hand in this in Minnesota. perilous time." Northwest Speaking on behalf of the Airlines made City of Eagan, Awada said the the cuts after it :: Northwest employees who work decided to elim- within the city are just a frac- inate about 20 tion of those affected. percent of its :; "We believe there are many, daily flights. Airport many residents who work for The job cuts Northwest at other locations, could be less due to the airlines given the city's convenient ac- offering unpaid furloughs to cess to Twin Cities Internation- employees and some likely opt- al Airport," she said. ing for early retirement. Those cuts will likely have a large im- LAYOFFS: To Page 12A 2,500 Northwest employees live in city By Joshua Nichols Sun Newspapers —1 '- - -__--7..___.. I A -. , 1•••••••/... Layoffs From Page 1A "Beyond that, however, are the thou- sands who work with companies closely related to air transportation, such as air freight firms, aviation equipment manu- facturers and marketers, and import/ex- port organizations." Northwest Airlines has two major fa- cilities in Eagan, its corporate headquar- ters in the Waters Office Park near High- ways 149 and 55, and an operations call center on Pilot Knob Road. City. officials said that in one way or another, about a third of the Eagan work- force is tied to operations at the interna- tional airport. These include -employees of an airline or companiesthat support the , airlines with products and services, or people associated with companies that rely heavily on air travel and air ship- ping.. -The city estimated. the number, of people affected,. directly or ;nd�ectly, is 20,000 out of a total Eagan %pialiition approaching 65;000. • r Eagan Mesaba offices to close Headquarters for Eagan -based regional carrier accounts for nearly 200 jobs by Tad Johnson THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS As of Dec. 26, Mesaba Airlines headquarters will move from Eagan to Mem- phis, Tenn., along with an estimated 193 jobs that go with it, but other elements of the Delta regional carrier will remain. The announcement of the move was made in an Oct. 14 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification letter to Eagan Mayor Mike Maguire. Of those who have lost their jobs, 35 people had accepted new jobs with Pin- nacle as of Friday, accord- ing to Pinnacle spokesman Joe Williams. Williams said he expects more employees will be hired in other parts of the company by the end of the year. Headquarters employ- ees had the opportunity to transfer to the Mesaba training center that will remain in Eagan. It is not known if the people work- ing in Eagan will be able to transfer to Memphis. Of the estimated 600 jobs that will reportedly remain in Minnesota, they will be at the Eagan training facility, and Mesaba pilots and maintenance groups at the Minneapolis -St. Paul International Airport. The headquarters, lo- cated at 1000 Blue Gentian Road, was purchased by Pinnacle from Delta for $62 million in July 2010. Mesaba, which was founded in 1944 and went public in 1982, moved its headquarters from the Min- neapolis/St. Paul Airport to Eagan in 2003. On April 24, 2007, Me- saba Airlines emerged from bankruptcy protection and was acquired by Northwest Airlines as a wholly owned subsidiary. Delta bought Northwest in 2008 and transferred em- ployees to Atlanta. Mesaba is among several major employers to leave Eagan in recent years. Last year, Lockheed Martin announced it plans to close its headquarters in 2013. Delta Airlines closed the former Northwest Air- lines headquarters in July. Maguire said he believes this trend is a reflection of current economic times — not the region. "It shouldn't shake peo- ple's confidence in Eagan or the metropolitan area," he said. Maguire said the move will have little financial im- pact on the city and is con- fident a new tenant will be found for the property. Tad Johnson is at editor. thisweek@ecm-inc.com. Jes- sica Harper contributed to this story. um, 0 Consumer, labor markets eyeing rebound in 2002 By Joshua Nichols Sun Newspapers lthough the holidays may have lacked some of the joyofpast years with families facing tougher economic times, there is light at the end of the tunnel that leads into 2002. .With the. Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade • Center and the Pentagon that aflected an already unstable economy, many people in Dakota County found them- selves tightening their belts. Looking at jobs Ten days after the Sept. 11 attacks, Eagan -based North- west Airlines announced it would lay off 9,500 workers sys- temwide and that about 4,500. of those job losses would be in Min- nesota. A combination of leaves, retirements and attrition re- duced that figure, but the effect was still felt throughout the Twin Cities and particularly in Dakota County. , • The impact on the area was increased when Sun Country halted scheduled service Dec. 8 and laid off 900 employees after being hurt by growing debt. The Mendota Heights -based airline plans to re-establish itself as a charter flight operator. However, not all the news for the aviation industry is bad. James Walker, president of Eagan -based Worthington Avia- tion, is predicting a strengthen- ing in the markets served by his company. Worthington is an air- craft parts distributor. "It's back to.the same levels where we were before Sept. 11 and we're predicting it's actual- ly goingto get stronger," Walker , said. • REBOUND: To Page 2A co-ONiYtbun.e. »- 2Z—III MESABA TO CLOSE EAGAN HI Mesaba Airlines, which was founded during World War II, was sold to Pinnacle Airlines for $62 million last year. The regional airline, now owned by Pinnacle, will eliminate nearly 200 Minnesota jobs as it moves to Memphis. By STEVE ALEXANDER • alex@startribune.com Despite promises to the contrary, Mesaba Airlines will permanently close its Eagan headquarters Dec. 26 at the behest of owner Memphis -based Pinnacle Airlines. Both air- lines are regional carriers for Delta Air Lines. In the process, Pinnacle will cut 193 Mesaba jobs in Eagan, out of a total of about 800 Mesaba jobs in Minnesota. The closing of Mesaba headquarters and the number of workers affected was disclosed in a Worker Adjustment and Re- training Notification (WARN) letter to the mayor of Eagan dated Oct.14. It remains unclear whether some of those employees will get other jobs with Pinnacle in Memphis, Pinnacle spokesman Joe Williams said Friday. That will be resolved by the end of the year, he said. "There is no impact on air service or passen- gers," Williams said. MARLIN LEVISON • mlevison@startr. Pinnacle flatly declared that Mesab; quarters would remain in Eagan under management in a July 2010 statement Friday, Williams said that closing ti quarters "was the plan from the be The headquarters would be in Eagan indefinitely." The headquarters closure follow: pointment earlier this month of Me erating chief John Spanjers, based in 1 be the next Pinnacle chief operating based in Memphis. Founded in 1944, Mesaba is the flying regional airline in the Unite Delta Air Lines sold it to Pinnacle Al $62 million last year. Mesaba continues on D2 0- Delta Air Lines acquired Mesaba when it bought Northwest A 2009. Northwest picked up Mesaba while the regional carries bankruptcy in 2007. CD music format is dying? Target doesn't think so POINT OF SALE THOMAS LEE A blog covering the trends and people that define today's top retailers: www.startribune.com/blogs • The retailer continues to bet that shoppers will want physical CDs with liner notes and extras the previous year, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. At the same time, the num- ber of digital downloads of albums Z norront to 1 1 hillinn. If anything, retailers like Target and Wal-Mart have become even more important to artists still in- terested in making albums in a era when consumers can cherry -pick Enter Taylor Swift. In country superstar, who r Christmas album at Targe struck a deal with the reta an exclusive edition of "Sp •. ..av oay"1b avuut ED," he noted. "It's between the legs, between the partners and between the ears." unique mechanical alterna- tive. The stents are placed in internal pudendal arteries on either side of the body, insur- ing blood flow to the penis in 5 t (tr tab umL.- ti 0 tation procedure is the same as for a heart stent. Cardiovascular specialists and urologists screened pa- tients in the initial Medtronic - "Some of that could be pla- cebo effect," Rogers said. To rule out imagined improve- ment, Rogers and his partners performed ultrasound tests on Jim Spencer • 202-408-2752 MESABA TO CLOSE HQ 4 MESABA FROM D1 While Pinnacle will keep alive the Mesaba corporate name, Mesaba will hence- forth be headquartered in Memphis. Remaining in the Twin Cit- ies will be the Mesaba train- ing facility in Eagan, and the Mesaba pilot group and main- tenance organization at Min- neapolis -St. Paul Internation- al Airport, Williams said. The shutdown of Mesaba headquarters in Eagan comes at a time when all domestic airlines are cutting expenses and coping with higher fuel prices and an uncertain econ- omy. Airlines are scheduling fewer flights and squeezing more passengers onto the re- maining flights. Williams said the closure of the headquarters is unre- lated to those trends because, as a regional airline operating as a subcontractor for Delta, Pinnacle doesn't decide the number of flights that will be scheduled. Steve Alexander • 612-673-4553 Among the pictures displayed at the Grand Rapids, Minn., passen- ger terminal is one of Gordy Newstrom, who piloted a biplane to a July 4th celebration in 1928. He founded Mesaba in 1944. nwa NORTHWEST AIRLINES Douglas M. Steenland President and Chief Executive Officer Northwest Airlines, Inc. 2700 Lone Oak Parkway Eagan MN 55121-1534 nwa.com July 2008 Dear Northwest Colleague, Since we first took to the skies in 1926 as a mail carrier flying from the Twin Cities to Chicago, our airline has made a lot of history. For the past 82 years, we have pioneered the skies with milestones and historic achievements, paving the way for the entire aviation industry. In July of 1927, we flew our first ticketed passenger from Minneapolis to Chicago. Less than a year later, on February 1, 1928, we became an international airline with scheduled flights to Winnipeg, Canada. We were the first airline to fly an aircraft from the U.S. to Japan, then the first to launch regularly scheduled flights to Asia. We were the first to fly the Great Circle route, and the first to form a true international airline alliance. In every decade since our inception, we have made history, distinguishing us from our industry peers. 1930s... Northwest developed the first practical aviation oxygen mask in 1938, making high -altitude travel over the Rocky Mountains possible. 1940s... In 1948, we painted the "Red Tail" on our planes, creating a recognizable mark for other aircraft to follow our path through the treacherous Rockies — a trademark that has become known worldwide. 1950s... Northwest became the first airline to operate without a government subsidy on trans -Pacific and U.S.—Alaska routes in 1955. 1960s... With a Douglas DC8 aircraft, Northwest began the fastest U.S. jet service to Asia in 1960, calling it the airline's "pure jet." 1970s... In 1976, we were the first airline approved by the FAA to install coordinated flight crew training. 1980s... Northwest was the first major U.S. airline to ban smoking on all North American flights in 1988. 1990s... Northwest and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines launched their first joint service, with twice weekly flights between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Amsterdam in 1991. 2008... Northwest and Delta announce plans to merge, creating America's first truly global airline. With this pending merger, as we look ahead now to our future in the combined Delta Air Lines, I wanted to take a moment to reflect with you on our history -making past and share with you the enclosed NWA history video. This is a tribute to all of you and the great airline you helped build. Sincerely, Doug Steenland President and CEO Airline's plans taking off NORTHWEST ORIENT Airlines held a groundbreak- ing ceremony May 21 for the company's new corporate world headquarters. The building will be located on a 150-acre parcel of land east of Dodd Road and north of Lone Oak Road. Pictured above, from left: architect William Fay, vice president and secretary of Thorsen & Thorshov Associates, Inc.; architect Willard Thorsen, president of Thorsen & Thorshov Photo by Christy DeJoy Associates, Inc.; developer Larry Laukka; James Ab- bott, executive vice president of finance administra- tion of Northwest Orient Airlines; Mayor Bea Blom- quist; Steven Rothmeier, president and chief ex- ecutive officer of Northwest Orient; Councilman Ted Wachter; City Administrator Tom Hedges and developer Warren Beck. For more photos, see page 4A • 4 A47./�f ;St'el TtJ;-r' ;?_�' 07,t't.;e4>4..�ra11.1.r. a j , s ve a s o a <.e s t•a�.i.,�7,i.4,3,#, ra3ari.. opinion Foot notes 7 i > 4 4'x 4 124.0 0 1.14 • BHS semester format to provide 'the write stuff' By Dr, Theodore Foot,, Superintendent of • will mass the -instruction and District 191 Schools practice of new skills;, continued Under the new semester for -practice and. additional instruc- mat at Burnsville.High School, • tion will be distributed over four semesters of literature courses. - sophomores will be required to . Relating their writing to-liter- take:a course in writing/composi- • ature will bring more meaning to - — tion. Since their•writingskills will •students' writing experiences. It vary, composition courses will be . • will give more direction to their • offered at three different levels: ' writing and will provide more op "Basic .Writing Skills" for portunities to develop thinking students with low• skills; "Corn = ' 'skills. One of the problems with position'for students with the present'system has been that average/above average skills; . students have difficulty making and "Honors Composition". for . • the transfer from writing class to students with above average/ writing for any other purpose. By high skills: • • • relating what students write to In .their junior and • -senior . what they read, the language arts. years; students will receive con teachers stand'a better chance of tinued instruction and practice' in bringing about that transfer.. __..y — i - E:,.., .n re'l.•f of tion, sophomore writing courses letters Be; of service To the editor.: The beautiful . homes of our area, the well -kept lawns, the ex- cellent schools and the efficient. municipal services all testify to a very sufficient community of in- dustrious citizens. With this im- age as background, I was surpris- ed when I learned of the tremen- dous. and varied. requests for human services made of the Community Action Council. • CAC provides .a 'variety of assistance for residents of Dakota County, 'serving as a safe- ty net for those between trauma and a•more permanent solution to their problems. . • For, example, in 1984 CAC's Help Line received r18,935.. calls for assistance. The FoodPantry gave free food to more than 4,000 people and the Clothes Closet pro: vided free clothing to 419 children. and 356'adults.'The staff reports that there is a constant need for children's clothing. • The B. Robert Lewis House for give to CAC critical. • We have all had troubles to . some degree. -Divorce, death, loss .of a ,job, serious illness or drug or alcohol .problems can quickly create a marginal situation. I invite each of us to consider being of service by becoming a member. of.' CACBeing a con - - Social work ethics questioned To the editor: I wish Dakota County social workers and child protection peo-• ple would have had the opportuni- ty to hear the social worker who. gave a short talk to. a group of listeners recently. This social worker and former child protection worker is now in her 70s. She started out by say-, ingi trihutin>? mernher is more than a gesture. It is an appropriate ac- tion that truly represents who.we are - a community of human he- ings who are able and willing to. make a difference. LARRY BUCKLIN Burnsville ' Social workers need services, too To the editor: AFSCME Local 306, represent- ..ing clerical, technical, and pro- _ fessional. workers in Dakota n County-HumaServices has been on strike since May 2. County ad- ministrators report that human services are being "adequately . delivered" through use of super- visors, employees from other den.,rFr _... r .. a .Vn� Northwest breaks ground A MAY 21 groundbreaking ceremony symbolized, the move of Northwest Orient Airlines to Eagan. 'the: -$14.5 Million headquarters will. be' 275,000 square feet and will be' able to increase to twice.th'at.size with further growth. The building is scheduled to be Com- pleted in., the • fall of 1986. and 1;000 Northwest employees will occupy.it..The old building will.be us- ed_ for . operational .functions,. such . as Maintenance,. engineering and reservations. At .right; Councilman - Ted Wachter; left, and City Administrator 'Tom •. Hedges admire souvenirs of the 'event,rnodels of Nor- thwest's newest aircraft, the Boeing 757. -Below, . an artist's rendering -of the new facility. ' • " • Photo by Christy. DeJoy. HRU SATURDAY, JUNE 1 st. KRAUT SALAD 9c SALAD-RAMA - . SLICED AMERICAN CHEESE - - 68 LB.' 1319.B. ITALIAN ELITE SALAD ..‘. o . oo .................. $211. EESE SALAD $21&:- - \ 'PARTYTRAYS for .' . ,. sm.. Graduations & Weildings. - $1.. fromt Eagan', s -Terrific Deli' . , POUND OF FREE"! COLESLAW WITH EACH ROTISSERIE CHICKEN Potential buyer of former NWA headquarters backs out Space would have been leased to U.S. General Services Administration by Jessica Harper THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS A multimillion dollar deal is off between Delta Airlines and a real estate broker. East Coast REIT re- cently signed a $19.5 mil- lion purchase agreement with Delta Airlines for the former Northwest Airlines headquarters. But East Coast REIT backed out when the U.S. General Ser- vices Administration can- celled its plans to lease the property. "They determined they no longer needed the space," said Jeff Minea, a real estate broker for File photo A potential buyer of the former Northwest Airlines headquarters building backed out earlier this month. East Coast REIT had intended to purchase the property and lease it to the U.S. General Services Administration. Cushman & Wakefield, an Eden Prairie -based firm handling the listing of the former headquarters at 2700 Lone Oak Parkway in Eagan. Minea said his office re- ceived a letter from REIT on Oct. 7 informing him of its intent to back out. The GSA had been searching for about 250,000 square feet of office space in the southern suburbs for the Department of Veteran See NWA,10A 08 CHEV COBALT 05 CHEV COBALT WHITE , 42,000 MILES.... $9,200 SILVER, 91,000 MILES ... $6,900 07 PONTIAC G6 04 CHEV MALIBU WHITE, 74,000 MILES .... $8,900 RED, 61,000 MILES 07 CHEV AVEO LIGHT BLUE, 27,000 MILES $7,900 07 CHEV MALIBU BLACK, 94,000 MILES .... $7,900 06 PONTIAC G6 SILVER, 83,000 MILES ... $9,300 06 CHEV COBALT $7,900 04 FORD TAURUS BURGUNDY, 91,000 MILES. $6,900 04 MITSUBISHI LANCER RED, 119,000 MILES .... $3,900 02 CHEV MONTE SS WHITE, 103,000 MILES ... $7,900 02 CHEV CAVALIER RED, 72,000 MILES $7,700 YELLOW, 63,000 MILES ... $7,800 05 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN 00 BUICK LESABRE NWA/from 1 A Affairs. When it issued its re- quest for proposals in No- vember of last year, the government said it needed space to house Minneapo- lis VA workers displaced by the $115 million federal stimulus -funded renovation of Fort Snelling's Whipple Federal Building. However, the VA decided to stay inside the Whipple building during its remodel project instead of moving. "They need be as close as possible to the VA Medical Center (which is near the Whipple Building) so they can work down the back log from vets," Chicago GSA spokesperson David Wilkinson said. This decision led East Coast REIT to cancel its purchase agreement, Minea said. Although the GSA will have its workers stay put for now, the Whipple building may not have room for its agencies once the renova- tion is complete, Wilkinson said. With no potential buyer of the former NWA build- ing, the strategy now is to put the property back on the market, Minea said. The 125-acre site was subdivided last month, breaking the property into the headquarters and three separate land parcels, which allows Delta to sell the building and undeveloped land separately. "The land sites will allow local corporations to find land for small corporate sites," Minea said. The 273,000 square foot multi -story office building was constructed in 1985 and housed about 1,000 North- west Airlines employees pri- or to the merger with Delta two years ago. The property has been on the market since June 2009. Jessica Harper is at jessica. harper@ecm-inc. com. Saints Catholic Church, 19795 Holyoke Avenue, Lakeville with visitation 6-8 Wednesday, 10-20, White Funeral Home, 20134 Kenwood Trail, and one hour prior to Mass at Church. Inter- ment, All Saints Catholic Cem- etery. White Funeral Horne Lakeville 952-469-2723 Walter E. Trevis Trevis, Walter E., age•94 of Farmington/Rosemount passed away on 10/14/2010 from leuke- inia complications. Preceded in death by brothers John, William;, Robert; Jerome -and James-Trevis; sister Jean Gephart; and G9andiz children Monica Haugley and Ryan Sauer. Survived by Marie, wife of 64 years; children Robert (Marcia), Gary (Cheryl), Janine (Wayne) Dahmes, James (Chris), Walter (Carolyn), Diane (Jeff) Oesterreich, Edward (Paula), and Marilyn (Mike) Sauer; 12 Grand- children; 11 Great Grandchil- dren; and sisters Louise Mueller and Marge (LeRoy) Kehrer. Mass of Christian Burial was 11 a.m. Monday, October 18, 2010 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Rosemount, MN with Father Tom Hill officiating. Walter, or "Charlie" as he was affectionately called, was truly one of the Greatest Generation. Born November 4, 1915 in St. Paul, he grew up in a family of nine during the Great Depression, and lived on various farms in Dakota County. He later served for four years during World War II in North Africa and Italy, and lost a brother to that conflict. He married his brother's widow upon 'returning home, and spent the next six decades being a loving, giving husband to Marie. Their incredible marriage has been an inspiration to their eight children, who strive to practice the virtues `-�:mhnriieri—love - DAKOTA COUNT,,1'cTly0UNEBUSIN(-SS,:Wgi&yq{October 21•,•2QiO,p9A g Potential buyer of former. NWA headquarters backs out 1. Space would have been leased to U.S. General Services Administration b essica Har er DAKOTA COUNTYTRIBUNE A multimillion dollar deal is off between Delta Airlines and a real estate broker. East Coast REIT re- cently signed a $19.5 mil- lion purchase agreement with Delta Airlines for the former Northwest Airlines headquarters: But East' Coast REIT backed out when the U.S. General Ser- vices Addministration can - Celled its plans to lease the property: "They, determined they no longer needed the space;" said Jeff Minea, "real estate broker for ChM - Mari &Wakefield; an Eden Prairie -based firm handling the listing _ of the former headquarters "at 2700 Lone Oak Parkway ih Eagan: Minea said his office re= ceived a letter from REIT on Oct: 7 informing him of its intent to•baek out: The GSA had been searching for about 250,000 square feet -of office space in the southernsiibiirlis for . the Department of Veteran .Affairs. When it is"sued its_ re= guest for proposals ii No= vemlier of last year, the government "said it needed space to house Minneapo= • .lis VA workers• displaced,: File photo A potential buyer of the former Northwest Airlines headquarters building backed out earlier this month: East Coast REIT had intended to purchase the property and lease it to the U.S. General Services Administration. by the $115 million federal stimulus=funded renovation of Fort Spelling's Whipple Federal Building. However; the VA de= cided to "stay in"side the Whipple building during its remodel project', instead of moving: "They need be as close as possible to the VA Medical Center (which is near the Whipple Building) so they can work down the back log from vets," Chicago • GSA spokesperson David Wilkinson said. This decision led East Coast REIT to cancel its purchase agreement, Minea said. Although the GSA will have its workers stay put for now, the Whipple building may not have "room for its agencies once the renova- tion is complete, Wilkinson said. With no potential buyet of the former NWA build- ing, the strategy now is to put the property back on the Market, Minea said. The 125-acre site was subdivided last month, 'breaking the property into the headquarters and three separate land parcels, which allows Delta to sell the building and undeveloped land separately. "The land site will al- low local corporations to find land for small corpo- rate sites," Minea said. The 273;000 square foot multi -story office building was constructed in 1985 and housed about 1;000 Northwest Airlines em- ployees prior to the merger with Delta two years ago. The property has been on the market since June 2009: essica Harper is at Jessica. ha'rpe"r@ec»i-iric. com. OA October 21, 2010 DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE BUSINESS WEEKLY um News Roundup Recent news from around Dakota County Apple Valley Burnsville Eagles set state record for consecutive wins Trash -can scofflaws will get friendly reminds from city Thanks to City Hall budget and job cuts, trash -can scoff- laws in Burnsville will find the city pursuing them a little less fervently. — - City Council, members agreed Oct. 12 to ease up on time-consuming enforcement procedures for a common .property -maintenance violation: leaving the trash can out after collection day. , But council members rejected another staff suggestion to allow more permanent storage of recreational vehicles and. trailers in driveways. "I guess our No. 1 complaint is trash cans" being left out too long, said Jenni Faulkner, community development director. City ordinance requires trash containers to be screened from view if kept outside. Of the 686 new cases handled so far this year by code enforcement inspector Ron Anderson, 124 were trash -can cases, Faulkner said. Another 24 included trash cans among • other property violations. "I can see why this could be terribly annoying for some neighbors," Council Member Mary Sherry said. . The city has responded to trash -can cases, revealed most= ly through neighbors' complaints, by sending a letter giving property'owners 10 days to fix the problem. Another letter follows if the problem isn't fixed. About 80 percent of property owners fix the problem af- ter the first'letter, Anderson said. The city currently doesn't _ _issue_citations for trash -can cases_alone h&said. Maybe 5' Candidates for mayor, council square off at forum - Two candidates for Eagan mayor and three candidates for City/Council squared off Oct. 7 at a debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters. Mayor Mike Maguire is seeking re-election, as are council members Paul Bakken and Gary Hansen. Challenging the incumbents are Joey Browner, who is seek- ing the mayor's seat, and Bill White, who is seeking a seat on the council. Council candidate John Weiser was not able to attend the forum. During the debate, candidates fielded audience questions on everything from budgets to business retention. Browner, a former Minnesota Viking who works for the Metropolitan Council, said his priorities for Eagan are education and wasted space. He said he'd also like to make. Eagan more transit -friendly, invite businesses back that have left, and encour- age new businesses to settle here. The incumbents have done a great job, he said, but "the dif- ference with my perspective is diversity. We need to be more. diverse in what we're doing with our community, because our .community is very diversified." Maguire has served the city for the past eight years, first as a council member and then as mayor. Eagan is a strong corn- munity and successful city, he said, and he .has the experience and dedication needed to lead it. His highest priority, he said, is protecting quality city services at a low tax price. "I'm running for re-election out,of a commitment fl to the core val„P _.�. • WWW,TWINCITIES_COM SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 22, 3 f11 MINNESOTA'S FIRST NEWSPAPER SOUTH SUBURBAN EDITION w 25 CENTS Economist Cutbacks could trigger state recession Northwest layoffs will hit Eagan hard BY SHERYL JEAN and MIKE HUGHLETT Pioneer Press Airline cutbacks, most notably from Northwest Air- lines, will hurt the already weakened Minnesota economy and could throw the state into a recession, said one economist. Northwest will lay off 9,450 employees, including possibly 4,500 in Minnesota, and cut flights by 20 percent: Other_ :major airlines also have -announced 20 percent service reductions and job cuts because ,fewer people are flying after the Sept.11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. - The economic impact will be far reaching for several reasons: • The nnrnber of jobs lost dwarfs that of most mass lay- offs. • Northwest jobs tend to pay more the average job in the TWin,Cities, or about $50,000 on average a year. • The airline is one of Min- nesota's largest employers with about 20,000 workers in the. Twin {pities. The job cuts will result in higher unemployment claims, less airport busine, lower cor- porate and airport revenue, and most likely lrss consumer sPendiag. Sung Won Sohn, an econo- min. for Wells Fargo & Co., esti- mates the Northwest layoffs will result in $560 million in total economic losses, a figure based on a standard economic multi- plier. That $560 million in lost eco- nomic activity would equal about 0.3 percent of Minnesota's gross state product, he said. While the percentage may seem small, "it's pretty significant coming from a single company," Sohn said. It could make the dif- ference between a recession and no recession, he said. A recession is typically defined as two consecutive quarters of declining economic output_ Eagan, the city where North- west is based and where it has an operations center, expects to be hard hit. The airline is the city's largest employer. Its mayor, Patricia Awada, on Friday called for strong govern- ment aid for Northwest and affected employees. The airline employs about 2,500 people in Eagan and thousands of others work at related companies. Theoverall blow to individu- als and the economy will be tempered by unemployment benefits, Sohn said. However, his calculations didn't include economic losses incurred by Northwest suppliers such as linen and food vendors that are lilcely see orders decline as the airline cuts flights_ Northwest's layoffs will mean that Minnesota's initial unemployment claims for Sep- tember will rise by about 25 per- cent, or one}extra week worth of claims, said state economist Tom Stinson. Unemployment rates already have been rising at a fairly sharp rate. The US. rate rose to 4.9 percent, a four-year high, in August Minnesota's unemploy- ment rate was 3.6 percent in August But Stinson said air trans- portation, including freight, accounts for about 1.5 percent of Minnesota's economy. "It's a small part of the economy," he said. "It won't have the same kind of effect, that Boeing's 30,000 layoffs have for Washing- ton's economy We're more diversified-" The airport will see a decrease in business as North- west and other airlines cut serv- ice. Northwest accounts for about 80 percent of the airport's airline revenue As a result, the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which oversees the airport, said Friday it expects 2001 revenue to fall by $5 million to $7 million, or 3 to 4 percent_ In addition, its passen- ger fatality cha.,gesi1 would be $5 million to $10 null:dn less than expected for the year. "All of the airlines bave indi- cated a 20 percent reduction, and that's what we based our projections on, but we don't know what type of reduction we'll have here," said Steve Busch, director of . finance for the MAC. So, the full economic impact on the airport could be more or less than estimated as the airlines disclose more details about flight changes, he said Northwest flies about 500 jets and commuter planes a day to and from the airport. A 20 per- cent reduction would be a cut of about 100 flights a day. `"Phis will shake out over the next several weeks, months and into next year," said Amy von Walter, spokeswoman for the MAC. "It will have a trickle - down effect." Sheryl Jean can be reached at sjean@pioneerpress.com or (651) 228-5576. Mike Hughlett can be reached at rahughlett@gioneer- press.com or (651) 228-5428- ltd-Aweo 3 Hs- zoo b Telephone line shuts down by Dan Gearino Staff Writer Northwest Airlines' national computer network was tem- porarily shut down Tuesday afternoon when workers acci- dentally .severed• communica- tions cables near Pilot Knob Road and Lone Oak Road. A contractor working for Iowa -based McLeod -USA was digging in the area for the pur- pose of laying fiber optic cable. A few minutes after 2 p.m., the contractor's digging device hit and severed U.S. West Communications lines. According to U.S. West spokesperson Kim Bothum, 288 strands of fiber and 4,500 strandsof copper were severed, ..: cutting off phone and computer • communications for approxi mately 4 788 lines; many`of, which are owned byNorthwest Airlines or Unisys Corporation. The fiber optic lines carried Northwest's computerized flight -planning data from the Eagan headquarters to not•only the Minneapolis -St. Paul air- port, but most of the world. Withoutuse of the lines, the air- line lost booking and baggage information, along with sys- tems that calculate the amount of weight and fuel -use of each flight. Even Northwest customers away from the airport were affected, as the company's Web site went down, meaning no new flight reservations and no ability to check existing reser- vations. Because these various data systems are so important, Northwest made sure to have a back-up system in place, but the back-up lines were so close to the primary lines that they were also damaged by the McLeod - USA contractor. ' Without the primary system rn U S : West workers ..were engaged ;in thereonlphcated task of: repairing separated communications cable near the intersec tion of Pilot Knob Road and Lone Oak Road ?Photo by':Ri k`: Orndorf or the back-up; Northwest had to cancel hundreds of flights • and make thousands of passen- gers wait in the terminal while U.S.` West vans were driving to the scene of the break..'; A quick fix did riot occur; though. By the afternoon' rush hour, drivers saw, several 'U.S. West vans parked.. in the grass along the southwest corner of Pilot Knob and Lone Oak. Several dozen U.S. West' work- ers began the slow, precise - process of mending the lines. According to Bothum; data communication was restored to • Northwest Minutes .later the air resumed regular: operations tAs of =1 p•m:"Wednesda Bothum reported'tha0the s • tem was 100 percent restore all area homes• and businesse r. The broken cables and resul . tant disruption toYEaganzfiome aril bustnesses has offici the, city ; of Eagan concerne_ about utility;dtgsin -_right-o ways Eagan nCityEngineer , Russ Matthys satd that:5the accidental .: damage :occurred^.on ra county`°; See Damage;'25A ' ' Damage/Continued' right-of-way, because both Lone Oak and Pilot Knob are county highways. This means that the. countygave permission for the dig and the city had rib - idea anything was: going on other than seeing the dig taking place and seeingthe commotion after the damage. Matthys said the city is in the process of creating a right-of- way management ordinance, which would create more rules for private companies digging in public rights -of -way. The ordinance would also require that all dig permits given by the county be reported to the city. . Dakota County Engineering Specialist Del Goddard said that utility companies must apply to dig in county rights -of - way and McLeod had properly applied to dig at Lone Oak and Pilot Knob. Dakota County does not charge utility compa- nies for the right to lay cable in county rights -of -way. Once the cables had been cut, U.S. West called Goddard and told him that they were • sending an emergency team to the scene. U.S. West has its own barricades, cones and signage for managing traffic and pro- • tecting workers near major streets, Goddard said. The workers all wore white hard • ; hats and bright orange vests. The U.S. West public rela- tions department issueda press release at 7 p.m. Tuesday which stated that Northwest Airlines bore absolutely no responsibili- ty for the disruption. Sep'26. 2001 10:O1AM THE WALLACE GROUP INSUN - News No.8309 P. 2/6 http://mnsun.com/story.asp?city=Eagarutstory=74792 SILEN newspapers e; Loci1"News; . Community '4;si Ed,ucatiol Calendar ` : `. P...ubIIC Safety;'; Seniors =Obituaries. ��lection"",News •.;, Sports Nevis",:. r Sports:Biefe: 'Ev.ents/Score's, `Wdme' Pager Archive F I p.usiness'News4, ,.Classifieds:,; .,.,,; ' 1 $inarice'Calc'',- I Horoscope Market Place f� . Net Directory' :_ ; NutrItlort CeIC :4CoTite"ct:Us, • How Advertise. ` :""* ;.Jobs At'Su'n, • Su Slots.. Fair41ornesl" ',: )NETDIRECTerY,T; { ,0ealing Wlth Drugw : ,Affordable Houslnp;. ;dowered Local Forecast Wednesday, Sep. 2 Click Here Cam Celiffivnrrol 10.39.w rai Impact on Northwest to echo throughou ctickr Eagan By Joshua Nichols Sun Newspapers (Created 9/26/01 8:56:49 AM) With the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks keeping many people from flying, Eagan -based Northwest Airlines cut more than 9,000 jobs Sept. 21, including up to 4,500 in Minnesota. Northwest Airlines made the cuts after it decided to eliminate about 20 percent of its daily flights. The job cuts could be Tess due to the airlines offering unpaid furloughs to employees and some likely opting for early retirement. Those cuts will likely have a large impact on Eagan, where 2,500 of Northwest's Minnesota employees live. "Northwest Airlines plays a vital role In the economy of Minnesota and the nation, serving both travelers and businesses, and is a major employer In the Twin Cities area, with some 2,500 employees in Eagan, alone," Mayor Pat Awada said. "It is imperative that both the federal and state governments hold out a helping hand In this perilous time." Speaking on behalf of the City of Eagan, Awada sald the Northwest employee who work within the city are just a fraction of those affected. "We believe there are many, many residents who work for Northwest at other locations, given the city's convenient access to Twin Cities International Airport," she said, "Beyond that, however, are the thousands who work with companies closely related to air transportation, such as air freight firms, aviation equipment manufacturers and marketers, and import/export organizations." Northwest Airlines has two major facilities In Eagan, its corporate headquarter In the Waters Office Park near Highways 149 and 55, and an operations call I center on Pilot Knob Road. City officials sald that In one way or another, about a third of the Eagan workforce is tied to operations at the international airport. These include Po* Webn icl 'Thal r.,rt .f tree lwi of 2 09/26/2001 10:39 AM Sep.26. 2001 10:02AM THE WALLACE GROUP [NSUN - News No.8309 P. 3/6 bttp://mnsun.com/story. asp?city=Eagan&story=74792 workforce Is tled to operations at the international airport. These include employees of an airline or companies that support the airlines with products and services, or people associated with companies that rely heavily on alr travel and alr shipping. The clty estimated the number of people affected, directly or indirectly, is 20,000 out of a total Eagan population approaching 65,000. I hi,. •,il,• linrl it r, nt nl•: ,?1)119. 2001 .;irn Nc.v:;lrail it - Iv1;+in Ofra . 952 F.:•9-fI7'{/ CYrated .+11<1 rn.airil.iini+d by (2r,r.antuui t)iejrlat Irltnr tivN F n rwl. i(:orbyG 0tp r:+ntnn1..:11 :.r:Oin 2 of 2 09/26/2001 10:39 AM Cjb0-03-ZO0 www.mnSun.com Layoffs From -Page 1A Hesaid the agency is looking into ad- ditional funding from state and federal sources. "One .way or another we will be work- ing'to help everyone -affected, whether it's under a single umbrella or through sev- eral grants and programs," Chairez said. The layoffs mean that many of North- west's pilots, including almost 400 in the Twin Cities area; will be grounded for the time being. "The pilots realize this wasn't any- thing the airlines did or anything the pi- lots did themselves," Mark Innerbichler: said. "It was a sudden event that nobody had any control over. Essentially, they are shocked just as the rest of the country is." Innerbichler is chairman of Council 1 of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the union for pilots in the Twin Cities area and western Wisconsin. An Eagan resident, Innerbichler is also a North- west Airlines pilot; captaining DC =9 jets for the airline. The impact pilots have felt in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks has been added to by the layoffs. Northwest will be laying off about 850 pilots, 386 of those members of Council 1, Innerbichler said. Members of the council also believe that more lay- offs could follow. "Pilots understand what is happen- ing," he said. "A pilot is really a profes- sional skeptic. They are always asking 'What if?' They are always prepared to ex- pect the worst." . ALPA will help the laid -off pilots by continuing to provide their medical and dental coverage as well as providing them with other benefits, Innerbichler said. In addition, union members who are still flying will -pay a monthly assessment that will go tohelp those pilots who have been placed on unpaid furloughs. Because pilots feel Northwest Airlines is in a better financial position than other airlines, Innerbichler said the pilots have also kept their spirits up. "They are all really optimistic," he, said. "We feel Northwest has positioned it- self very well `compared to the rest of the industry and will be in a strong position to eventually bring back many of the pi lots." - Dave Olson,a Northwest mechanic for ., 22 years, kept his job but said tension re- mains throughout the company. He said ' the airline appeared to be on the yerge of stability after years of unpredictability, "It's tough," Olson said. "After all these • years it seems like we've finally got`some thing going, and then this happens." One laid -off Northwest employee who is relatively unconcerned about losinglus: job is John Command of Richfield:=':-_.`'. Command worked`20 hours a week tak= Mg reservations for the airline,'devotmg the rest of his time to directing theatrical productions around the Twin Cities.' "All of the part-time people` lost' their jobs, no matter what their seniority sta- tus was," said Command'; who worked at Northwest for eight years Now Command will be able to spend- more_time on the Bloomington Civie•The :. ater's production' of "Chicago," :which opens Oct. 25 in the .Richfield Middle School building 7461.Oliver Ave. S: Com' mand is directing the musical, which has`' a cast of about two dozen. Command said he is confident that the airline's part-timers will be called back to work before long, in part because many them generate revenue for Northwest.; "The part-time workforce` is Very portant to them, he said: "In addition to everything we do, they need:us to'relieve' full-timers that are taking time 'off.- "It would be a tough nut to crack. Without Command said most employees are .. usedto the vagaries of workingin the air line industry "It happens to a tiny degree every there's an airlineincident," he: said:' "L think everything will be:put in -place and: we'll be back again: • Command said he hasenough money : tucked away to get through.a few `" months'' of unemployment: "I'm 56; I'm not going to start a new Ca- reer," he said. "I'm one -of 'the lucky' ones:, . . I can wait for them to call me " For Sen. Deanna Wiener,`DFL-38, who represents Eagan, Mendota, Lilydale'and: parts of Burnsville;.'Apple Valley and' Mendota Heights, the layoffs have affect:': ed many: of her constituents:' :Wiener's Senate 'district"includes not 'only: North- west Airlines, but also the corporate headquarters for Sun Country Airlines in Mendota Heights. "Many of the employees affected byre- cent layoffs from: the airlines: and their ; related businesses live: and work .'in'my', . . district," Wiener 'said "It is important that we begin asking questions: now. about how the state; cehl complement re ', cent actions taken by the,federal govern ment." �.. Wiener was appointed to head a new Senate Select . Committee on Air Trans- portation and Economic Security The 1-member bipartisan committee Will explore state optionsavailable to as= -. sistairlines headquartered in Minnesota a • and their employees_ to recover from the;.. repercussions of the Sept: 11. attacks: W 0 1 a J -0 UO "0 O >+"G 0 -Oes bbb c) ° w " c ,b ti it .5 F.) '4 a r< 0 w :� a.4) y o 1. y o w 0 2 3 i~ a 0o. ° c0�y1 0 $ 0 0 0 a o >' p b ° U .� .U4 N • - «'7 r: a) y .r d°:~z~ a) w o a . cd 3 y O .�. cc$ 0 Cyd >, O �; 'd >, oV. k 3 a a= b 0cd y '° °' V nu.rtd'Ea 0-5o.o 1 : 0 0 •@ '� y O v' O ° O. c° a) ° g"0 E 3., .Z.'2 o.E o• '1 c U 'r5 ar N • cC c@i, >, 0 O N . N cd y g>�.0a et 00E° a a ty U 8 3 to > 0 vi 3 O *i2 gA$`0- -.0 �.y aZ 2 .5 N 2 N 5 5 8 A z C Layoffs/From 2A Security Committee last week. Sen. Deanna Wiener (DFL- Eagan) was appointed head of the committee, which will look at ways the state can help local airlines and the Minneapolis -St. Paul airport. Many local businesses have already felt the effects of the recent terrorist attacks, and the Northwest layoffs could add to the impact. According to Lisa Hoffman of AAA Travel, which has a branch in Eagan, travel agencies have definitely seen a decrease in business. "Business obviously has slowed down," she said. "We're getting a lot of requests for -infor- mation, but they're not necessar- ily booking." After Sept: 11, Hoffman said, her office was noticeably quieter. "It was amazing how quiet it was;" she said. "But moreso it was comforting clients. Every person you talked to had a story. They needed to talk about what they experienced and how they were dealing with the situation. So in some ways we became counselors" Even so, Hoffman said the number of cancellations was less than she expected. "There were quite a few peo- 1 ple that deferred their travel dates i and are planning on traveling next year," she said. 7 In terms of the Northwest lay- offs, Hoffman said she thinks it may bring ticket prices up slight- ly, but it also means people who want to travel need to get their reservations in early. In addition to the cancelations and postponements, Hoffman said her agency has also heard from some people who feel very secure traveling right now. "People are feeling that they'd like to travel, they have plans and they don't want it to disturb their livelihood;" she said. "We've had customers that have said that they wouldn't have any problem getting on an aircraft right now" The Eagan Convention and Visitors Bureau is also feeling the crunch. The organization has seen a decrease in its funding, which comes directly from the lodging tax of hotels, said Director Ann Carlon. Hotel business has decreased by 7 to 10 percent in September, she said, and is projected to remain low through December. "We're hoping in January it will go back to normal," Carlon said, adding that there haven't been layoffs in the hotel industry yet, but some have altered their hours. "Certainly the traveling pub- lic has decided to stay closer to home," she said. In terms of business travelers, Carlon said they've seen an increase in people driving to their destinations instead of flying. The organization has also changed its marketing strategy, applying a "closer -to -home" pol- icy that focuses on the seven - state region and Canada instead of the east and west coasts. Construction on the new Community Center in Eagan was also postponed in the wake of the attacks. Crews were digging near Northwest's Data Center Sept. 11 when administrators with Northwest's information services became concerned about the sta- bility of their computing environ- ment in light of the day's events. byErin Johnson Staff Writer The -'Eagan City.' Council chamber played host to two House committee meetings Oct. 2 as representatives listened to testimony on thehealth of the airlines .and their'workers. Representatives from. .local airlines and the. director the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) appeared, before the committee to ask for. state aid to help the troubled industry. The House Tax Committee, which includes local representa- tives Tim Pawlenty and Tim Wilkins listened to more than two: hours of testimony: on the current financial health • of. the' airline industry. The local airlines are asking •. for 'a reduction in _ fuel taxes, assistance for.. laid`. off workers and, cash aid;: Committee mem- bers will use the testimony to decide what exactly . the. state can offer to the airline industry to supplement aid from the fed- eral government. According to Rep. Tom Rukavina, . state aid to the air- lines can only translate into higher state taxes. "Now we're going to have to .. step up to the plate," . he said. "And I don't see how anyone sitting around this table can say don't' see how ' anyone s.ttin around this table can say that we area' going`- to have to raise some kind o. taxes. that we aren't going to have to raise some kind of taxes." That afternoon; a joint meet- ing of the House Committee on Commerce; Jobs and Economic Development and Jobs and Economic . Development-.. :Finance addressed worker issues related to the airline cri- sis. Rep. Tom R. ukavrna Among those testifying were Rebecca Yanisch, - commissioner of the Trade and Economic Development Committee, who said that for every Minnesota :job lost at an airline, two jobs are lost in related local indus- tries. Nationwide, she said; every airline job lost equals six related jobs lost. le:: com iiittees. listened : to some options the state: has to help laid-off:employees,_includ nig.the extension of cash lien- -fits that would-lasta year longer than:.unemployment benefits, an extension_ of COBRA and Medicaid eligibility. Union' representatives_ also spokebefore the 'committee, some accusing Northwest of using the crisis to further its own. agenda.. ':They are using this crisis to ram _through their own agenda, no question about it," said Kip Hedges, a. union representative and Northwest baggage handler. Hedges said the vast majority See Airline, 6A. R B. '� c�D: cCD)o z �.(0000 0 C" b 'rl�dit b ! (55. ,,,,e):: i a iv. : 0 CD E'n-, cND aO. CD • CD t. w g• p o 0 �Gy 0 0.. 0 w N `.. ao ( tn . 1 cn 0 3. ro w R. Z o g_ o o cn CO bUi‘l t - 0 - -LLD 0 I . . . . - „„ . , • • • - • ".. • . • . . .• • • • . . . ' • • • . - • • -• • . • • • • • . . • • • ' . • . • • • . . • • • • • .•. . • . . , .• . . . October 3, 2001 urred by attacks, airline layoffs hit home Many seek help - from state By Joshua Nichols and Harvey T. Rockwood Sun Newspapers Grim -faced men and women _ trudged into the semi -trailer truck parked in the parking lot of the -Thunderbird Hotel in Bloomington last week, hoping the state Department of Trade and Economic Development could help them ease the blow of being laid off from Twin Cities:. based airlines: A mobile workforce center in the truck offered electronic help in brushing up resumes, check- ing job vacancies and getting ready to apply for unemploy- ment benefits. About 500 people passed -- through the truck and meetings last week sponsored by •the agency and Northwest Airlines employee unions, said Filiberto Chairez, a rapid response spe- cialist for the agency. Chairez said demand for his department's services was high- est since the LTV Steel Corp. closed its taconite plant in Hoyt Lakes in January and laid off every employee. Chairez said the department expects to continue working with airline employees for months. More layoffs may be coming, Andy Blenkush/Sun Newspapers Employment counselors were at work helping recently laid -off em- ployees of Northwest Airlines within days of the company announc- ing staffing cuts. he said. "We've heard from quite a few people who haven't lost their jobs yet, but are worried that they're going to," Chairez said. LAYOFFS: To Pao 15A more students to otner heal uy schools and freeing up space at the popular magnet schools. "We have a lot of interest in the magnet schools," Olson See District 196, 10A Arnesh Roy and Adam Hussein perform in Eagan High School's production of "Aftermath," which was honored with a "starred performance" rating at the MSHSL 2010 State One Act Play Festival on Feb. 11 at St. Catherine University in St. Paul. The play was directed by Nancy Owzarek. This was Eagan's 16th state appearance and its 14th "starred performance" award. 5 q Ord a�®fi estimates climb Northwest - cated Worker Program Di- said. rector Anthony Alongi. Alongi noted that ad- Alongi said the state has ministrative costs for fed - received about 520 surveys eral funds .is higher, mak- from employees interested ing the option a last -resort in the services so far. move. "Our experience with mass layoff projects sug- Jacobs. gests the number who actu- Dakota-Scott Workforce The estimated number of ally enroll for services will Service may apply for a Na- Northwest layoffs has flue- be much lower (than the tional Emergency Grant to tuated because some groups number laid off).... People fund dislocated worker pro- who opted for buyout pack- find work, retire, move, or grams. ages were at first ineligible just look for a job in differ - In January, Dakota- for the retraining and coup- ent ways," he said in an e- Scott was chosen as the fis- seling programs, but then mail. cal agent to provide laid -off were allowed to be included, No matter the number, Northwest workers with said Kathey Ferkul, a ca- he said the state intends to taxpayer -funded programs reer services counselor with secure funding needed to like skills training, resume Quality Career Services, St. provide the services. help and job counseling. paul. It costs about $4,000 The initial proposal in- However, the number of per person for dislocated dicated 350 people would Northwest workers seeking worker services, which are qualify for the service. help may be anywhere from provided free to 'laid off But on Jan. 14, 95 more 10 to 40 percent lower than workers; service costs are Northwest employees were the number of employees adjusted to a higher rate tor@frontiernet.net. notified they would be los- laid off, added State Dislo- if federally funded, Jacobs County may seek emergency grant funds by Laura Adelmann. THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS So. many Northwest Air- lines employees are likely to be laid off en masse that the bllKlicii� 1 34493 00023 6: •DAKOTA'• CI ing their jobs, and now the overall project could go to serve 750 people, said Da- kota County Workforce De- velopment Director Mark AVENUE N Featured Products But, hp said, "it will cer- tainly happen if necessary." Once received, the U.S. Labor Department decision would come within 30 days. "We would ask for enough to cover the services necessary. We are currently analyzing just how much that might be," Alongi said. If a National Emer- gency Grant is not, avail- able, Alongi said, people involved in a mass layoff would be served as best they can with current available funds. Laura Adelmann is at dcedi= contro► otricer. The fact that one of ',, the escapees was a basset clearing snow away from • hound "tells you how high items in the yard such as the snow was,". she said. play equipment, patio fur - Another dog, a Husky, niture and dog houses. • managed to scale a 6-foot- She also encourages high fence surrounding her owners to keep tags on yard by using a snow pile their dogs at all times so as a ramp. if they do get loose it will All of the dogs have be easier to return them been found and returned home. home safely. Some were "That's why it's impor- found by neighbors, while tant to have your dog's li- others were picked up by cense on even when they're patrolling officers. just outside going to the The unusually high bathroom," she said. piles of snow can affect Grimm nearly faced invisible fences, as well, this situation with her own Grimm said. One owner dog, Luna, after a neigh - told Grimm her dog was bor dumped snow over able to go up and over a Grimm's side of 'the fence. snowbank that was more Thankfully, Grimm no - than 5 feet tall, which is ticed the potential problem about the range of invis- before her dog did, and she ible fences. The snow pile was able to take care of it. kept the dog from getting a She said this is the first jolt, the owner said. time she has seen this situ - Grimm recommends ation crop up as, an animal dogowners check along control officer. their fence lines for deep "This is a good remind- snow.and avoid piling er for people to check on shoveled snow up against their pets regularly when the fence. She also suggests they're outside," she said. breaking up snow with crust on top so it can't sup- Erin Johnson is at eagan. port a dog's weight, and thisweek@ecm-inc.corn. PROFESSIONAL SALON SERVICES -FOR MEN AND WOMEN V►s►tsourtwe�s tee'forl"spectacular services axing,, " T"'tMay,�,w LY E k�.'r+12 tNa.r�., S d � CISALON:COM�,5��*��`,�"-.�`"� E.NMARK; it �. t►� t,u< we former Northwest Airlines headquarters building in Eagan on the market and move its em- ployees to Minneapolis. Delta CEO Richard Anderson announced the decision to em- ployees in a phone message June 11. He said the company wo "dispose" of the Eagan buildi assoonz°as possible as it conso dates its Twin. Cities workforce. The building will likely be p up for sale by the end of the yea he said. The 264,000-square-foot build ing, known as Building A, is loca ed near 494 and Dodd Road an sits on about 72 acres of land. It was built by Northwest i 1985 and housed about 1,000 em ployees prior to the merger with Delta last year. Since then, some of the build- ing's employees have taken buy- outs, and others have moved or will move to the new headquarters in Atlanta. The remaining employees will be moved to a building in Minne- apolis known as Building C, which is attachedto the airline's mainte- nance facility. Building C is in the process of being renovated, after which it will become the airline's n uld ng li- ut t- d Delta will put the former Northwest Airliles headquarters building in Photo by Erin Johnson Eagan on the market at the end of this 'ear. Employees who do not relocate to Atlnta will be moved to anoth'r of the airline's buildings in Minneapolis. / northern headquarters. for opera- tions, Anderson said. Delta made a commitment to the Metropolitan Airports Corn - mission that it would keep 10,000 employees in Minnesota through the year 2016, MAC spokesper- son Patrick Hogan said. That's the year the airline is scheduled to pay off its bond debt, at which point it will have no further commitment to the MAC in terms of employ- ment, he said. Delta also told the MAC it would keep using several facilities in Minnesota after the merger, two of which are located in Eagan — the data center and the flight training cen ter. The 335,000-square-foot data center, which employed about 900 See NWA, 5A 1 Ids we2x. n6, -141- 1-009 Support byjoh1 THISIVEEF IThe Minn( mane Society aren't ready t( answer. The organ: for a zoning t0 move int( sun Furnitu, industrially northwest Road 42 a Burnsville. The c Ngainst f bid for P went c' Sep•21. 2001 8:38AM THE WALLACE GROUP No 8241 P. 2/10 1MVA o cut 9,000 jobs Twin Cities effect unknown BY ERIC TORBENSON and CASEY SELIX Ptonser Press Northwest Airlines will announce plans to lay off .slight, ly more than 9,000 employees company -wide this morning, a union official said Thursday night. It wasn't clear how many of the cuts will come from the car- rier's Twin Cities employee base of 21,000, After a week of painful num- ber crunching, Northwest Air- lines met with each of its seven unions Thursday afternoon and evening to discuss the carrier's survival strategy after a sharp downturn in its business since last Tuesday's terrorist attacks. The cuts — about 17 percent of the workforce —. will include 1,200 management positions, said the union official. Northwest declined com- ment on the figures Thursday night Now. the, harder part starts: "''finding which of Northwest's 59,000 people will go. Officially, most of North- west's unions declined to dis- cuss specifics until Northwest announced the cuts early this morning. "There's so much informa- tion that (the airline didn't) want to get anything miscon- strued or misquoted," . said Anise Meyer, vice president of Teamsters Local 2000 represent- ing 11.000 flight attendants. "There are just a lot of changes in the airlines." ynar/ PiteS, The resulting job loss figure will be soft In some ways, Many Northwest employees will take unpaid leaves, some could retire and others will use their senior- ity to push other employees out ' of jobs in a domino effect that could force relocations and eventually put the least expert- enced Northwest workers on the street. NORTHWEST JOB CUTS, 17A EFFECTS ON. PASSENGERS ▪ Fewer flights to most cities, • No food on coach flights, except flights from hubs to the West Coast. • Meal service on first-class flights 'of two hours or longer. (con tinued) Northwest mechanics union will likely begin a contract grievance if the airline tries to lay off its members. The shake- out could take weeks and per- haps months. Northwest faces even tougher challenges. The restructured airline must com- pete with fewer flights and fewer people, and must face an industry where terrorism has halved the demand to fly and put the biggest carriers on the brink of financial ruin. Following other carriers, Northwest on Saturday said it would trim 20 percent of its fly- ing, and the airline started offer- ing its smaller schedule. New security measures at airports take more time, carriers aren't able to schedule as many flights as before, and the changes meant most carriers lost 20 per- cent of their capacity each day. Northwest approached its job outs in a way different than most other major carriers, which collectively have announced plans to cut more than 60,000 jobs. Instead of announcing a broad number as carriers such as Continental Airlines did on Saturday, North- west developed a new flying schedule and re-evaluated its in- flight service before coming up with a strategy and a number of employee positions to reduce. The airline managers have had plenty of practice on the drill; Northwest went through two nearly identical processes this year in cost-cutting efforts that saved $344 million and cut 1,500 positions, scrutinizing its schedule and expenses, Trimming the payroll at any airline is far more complicated than cutting a shift at a factory or eliminating a company divi- sion. Unionized airline workers can use their seniority to bid into other jobs through an air- line's network of stations in the United States and even abroad, Northwest and other carriers are offering thousands of leaves to employees who would be able to keep collecting benefits, maintain their seniority and ,Sep , 21 • 2001, 8 : 39AM,„ and early retirements, Some things are clear in the • reduction. Northwest will fly less often to most cities, cutting a series of closely spaced flights from its hubs, Northwest will also stop serving food in coach on all flights except those from hubs to the West Coast. First- class meal service remains on' all flights two hours or longer. Late Thursday, at least one detail became clear of the cuts. Northwest has asked for cuts of 3,582 of its 19,000 ground employees, according to spokesman and secretary -treas- urer John Massetti of the Inter- national Association of Machin- ists District 143. No details were available about where the LAM• specific cuts would hit, he said. The union has 6,450 Twin Cities workers, and some of them will take leaves, Massetti said. Northwest's other labor groups declined repeated ques. bons into how the cuts and restructurings affected them. Teamsters Local 2000, repre- senting 11,000 flight attendants, said it expects Northwest to offer a similar number of leaves to senior flight attendants es it needs to cut, If flight attendants' interest in previous leaves offered this spring and summer is any indication (1,500 volun- teered for about 800 leaves granted), few junior flight atten• • dents will likely lose their jobs. Local 2000's Meyer said the exact number of layoffs was not given at the union's 8 p.m. meet- ing with management. "It's very sketchy right now," she said. The Aircraft Mechanics Fra- ternal Association says it's preparing documents and Serv- ices for potential layoffs but intends to exercise its "no lay- offs" clause in its new contract to the fullest extent. AMFA offi- cials said the union will ask for immediate arbitration on the contract interpretation. A few of Northwest's 8,400 pilots have been called up for reserve duty by branches of the United States military, but the Northwest chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association said it didn't know how many pilots would be affected. A Northwest pilots union spokesman said going into the meeting that they hoped for an early retirement buyout package from the carri- er, though some analysts doubt- ed any airline could afford that. I• Northwest employees consid- THE WALLACE GROUP N WWW.TWINCITIES•COM ID BEYOND ering unpaid leaves . double- checked their eligibility for unemployment benefits Thurs- day. "We've taken a lot of phone calls today from Northwest employees," said Jack Weiden- bach, Minnesota's unemploy- ment insurance director. "Num• ber one, people want to know if they're eligible for benefits if they take an unpaid leave. Yes, they will be eligible." Northwest Airlines is expect- ed to give the state an offldal notice of mass layoffs this morn- ing, said Rebecca Yanisch, com- missioner of the Minnesota Department of Economic Devel- opment. A meeting with Gov, Jesse Ventura is also scheduled. Staff members from the Dislo- cated Worker Program and the Rapid Response team will meet with Northwest officials to dis- cuss services for workers. Her department has $12 mil- lion that is designated for career services and job training for workers affected by mass lay- offs through 2D03. A 20 percent cut to North- west's 21,000member Minneso- ta work force would mean at least 4,200 jobs would be cut here. A 20 percent reduction in the total work force of 69,000 would mean 10,600 jobs lost. One .Northwest mechanic said lie couldn't fault the carrier. "It's not the company's fault, nobody blames them," said Fred Neumann, a 12-year Northwest mechanic awaiting news about layoffs. "But you hate to see anyone get laid off." Amy Sherman contributed to this report. No.8241 P. 3/10 cr)ttw tov, 1i7e1101 NEWS NWA's reduced schedule in effect BY SCOTT CARLSON Pioneer Press Northwest Airlines' pared - down flying schedule is starting to show up in the computer reservations systems of travel agents this week as the Eagan - based Carrier moves to imple- ment a 20 percent cut in opera - tons. Until this week, Northwest ran about 2,700 daily flights sys- temwide, But a 20 percent reduction in scheduled flying will soon mean about 500 fewer daily flights. Today, for example, Northwest has scrapped more than 80 flights in and out of the Twin Cities, where tt has about 500 flights. That's more than four times Northwest's level of cancellations for its entire sys- Jobs cut, stocks fall tem on a day when there are ni major weather problems, Mars of the cancellations, which thi airline indicated on its Web atti were "due to schedule change,' affect travel to and from sucl cities Chicago, Milwaukee Phoenix and Washington D.C. Travel agents said it is tor early to tell what flight times and destination frequencies Northwest is permanently cut ting from its system. saying the current schedule seems fluid, The airline would not comment on specific moves Thursday. Travel agencies do expect Northwest to trim service to cities where it has multiple flights. So, instead of offering five or six daily flights between two destinations; Northwest might drop down to four, said Alrf Ines, already facing the toughest year In nearly a decade, Have slashed Jobs and flights following last week's terrorist attacks, Demand has plummeted, and costs have risen due to tightened security measures, Airline Job cuts/ Stock price Other reduction change since 9/10 United Airlines M US Airways �56i,i 4 Northwest Airlines Reduced it:schedule by 20 percent 11,000 and anticipated pay cuts •62% Source; f lr leer Press research, Bloomberg News $15 billion deal struck on airline aid By Rob Hotattainen Star T insneWashington Bureau Correspondent WASHINGTON, D.C. — Re- sponding to the Sept 11 hijack- ings, federal transportation of- ficials went to Capitol Hill -on Thursday to try to assure the public that it's safe to fly. And White House and con- gressional negotiators agreed early today on a $15 billion plan to bolster the struggling airline industry. Transportation Secretary Noonan Mmeta told members of Congress that the federal government intends to expand the number of armed air mar- shals on airplanes and to make sure that passengers can't get into the cockpits. 'The administration is al- ready moving to restore public confidence in our transporta- tion system and infrastruc- ture,' Mineta told a Joint House -Senate transportation appropriations subcommittee. Members of Congress said it was clear big changes are needed to protect passengers. "Just last week four teams of terrorists permeated our avi- ation security measures with apparent ease and triggered the most horrifying series of events witnessed in our coun- try since the invasion of the United States at Pearl Harbor, said Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va. 00111111ESSeostIonei on Dt —Backg owed checks A schedule cuts start sowing up By David Phelps Star)'tleareStaff iVriier Northwest Airlines' new; reduced schedule is emerging gradually as travel agents at- tempt to figure out what flights and destinations Will be missing in the coming months as two oat of every 10 flights is pulled from service. Fewer taps to Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco and Portland are starting to ap- pear in computerized reser- vations systems as part of the stringent cost -saving treas- ures being imposed by the Eagan -based carrier. Last flights of the day from Northwest's hubs, including the Twin Cities, are being eliminated to keep .planes at home and available for the next day's service. SCHEDULE confornos on DZ — United cuts limn Cities flights in half Jane Canvey. head of Ho Federal Aria - don Adminis- tration, aad Transports- tonSeaotary Norman Mine- ta appeared beforelaw- nakers Mors - day in Wash- ington, D.G Msoceted Press ELSEWIEJIE President Bush summons all na- tions for a war against termrisni Al > Armed U.S. agents providing security.. A8 > The nation's flight schools remain grounded_ • . A22 > Interest in buying. American mightbe intensifying D2 First layoff is at harzd for many 1VW14pilots By DeborahCauMield Rybak Star 7ft1iune Staf jWriter There's an old saying in the airline industry: You ain't a real pilot 'tit you've been furloughed. If that's the case, an esti- mated 700 to 1,000 North- west pilots soon will verify their professional status when the airline begins its lardis With its pending layoff announcement this week, Northwest will join 10 other airlines in cutting back on flight schedules and person- nel by about 20 percent. Current industrywide lay- off figures stand at almost 70,000, not coining North- west numbers, which are expected to be released to- day. Total layoffs at airlines are expected to reach as high as 100,000. By comparison, in 1991, a recession, the Guff War and the demise of both Eastern and Pan American airlines produced 40,000 layoffs industrywide. !ELMS eardi:sse on 02 Behead pilots remember. Brokers %ehodv has a clue' 1 r wllv NO Win Mi 4 :s :t .e rf n it to .z' a- 3- re d- ge Id ss ;s, ar he on of to ng las for )m er- se- to ins by ter ike 'er- ch, the the ton au - Sir of- po- de- eon Wee Retirees remember when furloughs were common "As the saying goes, When the economy catches a cold, the airlines catch pneumo- nia,' " said George Hopkins, a history professor at Western II- linois University. "But in this particular case, the economy also seems to be catching pneumonia, so I don't know what that means for the air- lines.' What it means for North- west pilots at the bottom of the seniority list is a return to days tbat some pilots haven't seen in years— if ever. After the ups and downs of deregulation in the 1980s and the early 1990s recession, the airline industry boomed "Tile golden age of airline profitability was 1993 to 2000," said Hopkins, author of three books on the history of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), one of the world's most elite and wealthy unions. Times were so good that pi- lot shortages were widespread, even as recently as last sum- mer. "Almost 80 percent of this pilot group has never been through a significant fur- lough," said retired 747 captain Richard Duxbury, who esti- mates that he spent "almost 13 percent of my career" laid off from Northwest at one time or another. There was the year and a half in the late 'a60s, and then another year in 1970. "July 8, 10:45 a.m.," he recalled. Duxbury, who was married mortgage," returned to the mil- itary reserves, where he stayed active on and off through sev- eral shorter furloughs. Les McNamee wasn't as for- tunate. The now -retired 747- 400 captain was 5uloughed in 1970 and spent the next 81i years working for Red Owl Foods. At one point, there were about 40 Northwest pilots working at that warehouse," McNamee recalled, adding, "The 70s wasn't my favorite decade." McNamee's advice to the pink -slipped: "Hang in there. I think everybody will survive." Duxbury also was optimis- tic about the.prospects for this new generation of fruloughed pilots, whose salaries are esti- mated to range from $40,000 to $80,000 per year. Some could return to military service, al- though Duxbury said that only one-third to one-half of the newest Northwest pilots have In addition, with Northwest pilot retirements (mandatory at age 60) at an all-time high, Duxbury estimates that North- west will have 300 pilot posi- tions open each of the next three years "just doing noth- ing" That's what Scott Gaupp is hoping. Gaupp is a local flight instructor and certified pilot who wants a career as a com- mercial pilot. Gaupp hasn't lost any hope hell eventually accomplish his dream of landing a job with an airline. "It'il happen eventual- ly), but it's going to take awhile,' he said. 'You can't stop these guys from growing older." — Sta f rvriterPatrickKea- rredy coutrtrrtsd to this re- port — Deborah Caulfield Rybak is at SCHEDULE from D1 Fall isn't peak travel season, so impact of cutbacks is less Small towns in the North- west system will lose service outright Before the hijackings that prompted the cutbacks, Northwest notified the U.S. Transportation Department that it intends to drop service to several small communities, including Thief River Falls, Mum.; Waterlown, S.D.; Esca- ,naba, Mich, and Mason City, Iowa. Other airlines serving the Twin Cities also are reducing their presence in this market as they impose their own cost - saving measures. Chicago -based United Air- lines, for example, is reducing its number of flights here from 99 tn 11 nrrnrrlino tn travel agents who have scanned res- ervation systems. hi some instances, agents must call airlines on behalf of clients to see whether a flight still is scheduled. Travel agents, meanwhile, report that caution appears to be the byword for both busi- ness and leisure travelers for the near term. Pat Humble of Waters Trav- el in Wayzata said business bookings are starting to pick up for the fast week of October while cancellations have been virtually nonexistent for leisure travel further out, such as dur- ingChristmas and spring break. There lust hasn't' been much activity for the past week. 'The best part of it is that we are not in our peak travel sea- son," Humble said Fall histori- cally is a weak period for air travel George Wozniak of Hobbit Travel in Minneapolis said fare discounts already are starting to appear on reservation screens as aidines try to entice passengers back into the air. Wozniak said Northwest and Sun County both posted $110 round-trip fares to Orlando around noon on Thursday. AmericaWest was offering round-trip fares of $178 throughout its system, Woz- niaksaid. 'This is just the beginning of airlines trying to stimulate retail sales right now," Woz- niak said. One byproduct of the re- vamped schedule will be fewer flights in markets where Mirth - west and Sun Country com- pete, including several West Coast destinations where Northwest flights are being re- duced by up to 30 percent It doesn't make sense to fight for market share and lose money while doing it, industry observ- ers said. Terry Trippler, an airline analyst forOnetravelcom, said Northwest will emerge as a stronger airline as it trims and adjusts its flight schedule. "I think well see a new Northwest and a new. industry by spring break" Tippler said. Trippler, a sometimes -ethic of Northwest, applauded the airline for beginning cost-cut- ting efforts before the Septem- ber catastrophe. He said the Northwest -Continental Air- lines alliance will be strength- ened by the financial restruc- turing at both aidines. —David Pimps is at ilphelostbstastribmistowsi. AY, 3ER 21, )1 c ST_ PAUL PIONEER YRlSS BUSINESS 7(c1 to SECTION IEY do >s if ward PLY *ter y of ame natty 3C ;ES across 5 ek r and r s ar. (ETS IS r 0 �x) Airline bailout is essential re issue is not whether n,erican taxpayers should help the airline industry_ They must do so. Quickly and smartly. The Questions are about how much to help, how to allocate the help and what forms it should take. Vs not about a bailout, says economist Art Rolnick, who heads teenearh far the Fbderal Reserve Bank of Mrmeapalis. Its about seeming an essential BUSINESS BEAT DAVE BEAL Pioneer Press Columnist Exploring business and eoonomic - news Mat affects the Twin Cities. natk ai service. " lie safety of our airlines is a national defense issue," Robtiek Ergot years ago, Rolnick DAVB SEAL, 7C Just how much do the airlines need? White House, lawmakers reach deal on $15 billion rescue plan SY TOM WEBB Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON — The num- bers change more quickly than the Powerfiall jackpot WM the nation's airlines need $5 billion $15 Mimi or $2A billion in taxpayer help to reow; eft This week, airline executives came before Congress and spoke of financial calamity after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. and the White House agreed on a $15 billion rescue plan — bilbon In direct grants to com- pensate for .the losses suffered after the attacks, and $10 billion When the gvwerimrent ordered In loan guarantees, Transporta- alit airplanes grounded immedi- tion Secretary Norman Mmeta ately that action alone cost the said. airliaes;340 miltion a day — or The House is expected to $L36 billion for the four -day approve the paw, which also halt, Delta Air Lines Chairman provides same liability proteo- Leo Mullins said Wedneaday tions for the airlines, later today. Lawmakers agree those loss- The Senate was expected to es should be rdmbnrsed by tax- minty follow suit payers, since the airlines were Reyond that, however, airline obeying a government -ordered losses become hazy That's one shutdown in a national ewer- reason numbers vary so widely. And early today, Congress AIRLINE AID, IC Loealstocks sag with rest of U.S. Industrial firms like 3M, Ecolab hit hard BY TIM HUSER HD_ Puller, St Paul -based Pioneer Preis Great Ncathern Iron Ore, Al 1 . ■ ALAI AA 1 •,••.u•..• ......... - .. .. ..... .. -_. "--_...- State panel will consider ways to help airlines The leadership of the Min- nesota Senate will name a spe- ' eial panel today to look. into ways the state aright help its ailing airlines and their work- ers who might find themselves out dajabsoon. Majority Leader Sea Boger Moe, DEL -Erskine, and Minori- ty Leader Sen. Dick Day, R- Owatonna, will appoint 11 sena- tors to the Select l7oomsttee on Air Transportation and Eco- nomic Security. ity. The panel will see if the state can find ways to aid Northwest Airlines, its com- muter lice Mesaba and Sun Country Mnmies. The Minnesota -based air- lines, along with other airlines nationwide, have reported los- ing significant amotmts d money following last week's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington The airlines have asked Congress for $17.5 bullion it federal add. In Minnesota, officials have said the state could help by for- going fusel taxes, gate fees and other ecpenses- In the case of Northwest Air- lines. state officials said they could look into restructuring $40 million in loans the airline got in a 1992 state bailout, as well as a W0 million loan the airline received from the Met- ropolitan Airports Commission In the case of workers who might get laid off, the panel could look into pumping more money into its Dislocated Worker Program. — David Banners Delta to reveal job cuts next week American, TWA to stop serving meals Associated Press Delta Air nines is faced with "absolutely no alterna- tive" to cutting employees because of the drop in demand for air travel after last week's terrorist _attacks, the compa- ny's president told workers Thursday. The cuts will be amsounced next week, Frederick W. Reid. Delta's president and chief operating officer, said in a recorded telephone message. to employees. "I can only be completely honest with you," Reid said 'We have absolutely no alter- native to the heartbreaking requirement of reducing employee casts and bead point to stabilise our company ..•.A ....—. it M hxo 0 ra mma- JOHN snuweri. AssoclArw ams A British Airways jumbo jet sits empty Thursday at Lon- don's Heathrow Airport. British Airways said it will cut another 5,200 jobs from its work force. . Airline aid (continued) Analysts can only guess at future revenue, and the Sept 11 terrorist strrioe was unlike any- thing that had ever happened before. Since airplanes began flying again last weekend, many anx- ious passengers have stayed away, causing further Iosses. The industry predicts that between Sept. 15 and Sept. 30. revenue `will likely reach only 40 percent of what we bad expeded," Mullins said Wednesday. That would cause an addi- tional loss of $3.36 billion, be said, bringing total airline loss- es to $4.7 billion by the aid of September Add the $300 mil- lion lass from grounding the nations cargo fleet, and the total hits $5 billion Beyond that, however, there's less agreement The airtime industry fears the terrorist strike will depress revenue far months. Based on what happened during the Persian Gulf War, FROM PAGE 1C they estimate that air traffic will be off 40 percent in the fourth quarter; off 25 percent during the first quarter of next year and off 15 percent next Total losses would be enor- mous, Mullins said. perhaps $29 bslhhon in ail 'Ile potential loss is so great that airlines are being shut out of the U.S. capital markets, which provide the finning for airline operations. According to investment firm Morgan Stan- ley, "'May, there are virtually no markets open to these carri- ers ... the risks go beyond those which can be analysed and Yet, some on Wall Streetare a bit hesitant to accept ahtine math. UBS Warburg analyst Sam Buttrick called the indus- try revenue breast "onplansi- ble' though in some respects poubie. He esthnates the industry's revenue will drop about half as munch as the air- lines do. To survive the credit crisis, the girlies had hoped fir $12.5 billion in loans guaranteed by U.S. taxpayers. The money would have to be repaid, likely over 10 yearn. But if the amines default, taxpayers would foot the bill The combination of cash and loan guarantees make up the $175 billion package House members are consider- ing Airlines face two other enor- mous expenses. United Airlines and American Airlines may have massive liability coats from the 5,000 deaths on the ground at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. They say they'd be ruined i[ they're held liable for the deaths and destruction. and want Congress to shield them from ads of war. Northwest Airlines wants that, too, because its insurance costs have skyrocketed since the attack. Airlines are also largely responsible fur airport security, and they will bear massive new security costs. President Bush proposes that $3 billiost in already-approwd emergency aid be used to hetpupgrade air- port security This report includes information from the Associated Press. ibrn Webb can be reached at troebb@krv.,ashington.orm or at (202) 383-6049. Dave. Beal (continued) emerged as an archenemy to the controversial, publicly backed flnancing that the State of Minnesota gave to Northwest Airlines. He called the move an ill-advised bailout by the tax- payee s Eventually, that expeti_ enoe led him to become one of nation's most outspoken critics of "_.rr^At. welfare' — public subsidies to businesses. Rolnick says 'Idly that fed- eral emergency help for the industry, unlike the state assis- tance given to Northwest in Airlines face immense new costs for heightened security at airports. of running an essential swine. They are public costs that should not be borne by the air- lines,. Ernest Arvai, a New Ransp- aiudre-braced airline consultant, agrees. "The nature of the business and its value to the economy are Ibe critical factors here," says Arvai. tees twin towers. Adding to the airlines' woes, even before last week's disas- ters: TSraditionafly limited financial resources, which seri- ously hamper the industry's ability to deal with its trouble& Investors avoid airline stocks berm se the companies ate too cyclical, and don't make much money. Moreover the air- lines face high costs of capital and labor. Also, they sell a ca imodity productµ�A�airline is�t,, a seano matter hat ali'nyou are one" says Areal And when they don't ffi the seats, they lose substantial revenue. Thus, airline stocks are almost always out of favor with dnOdD 33V11VM 3H1 8:42AM THE WALLACE GROUP-'--- — -- JQNN STILIVVELL: ASSOCIATED PRESS its empty Thursday at Lon- rerways said it will cut t force. Urways ,200 jobs "British Airways today announced a series of meas- ures to address the anticipated reduction in demand from.pas- sengers following the tragic events in the USA Last week," the company said in a state- ment The airline, with a fleet of 268 planes, said it would remove 10 aircraft from the long -haul fleet, at first by advancing the retirement of its Boeing 747-200s and then by withdrawing other wide•bod-' ied aircraft. Six Boeing 767s and ' four narrow -bodied air- craft will be withdrawn from the short -haul operktion. British Airways is consid- ered one of the most vulnera- ble to an expected drop in trans -Atlantic travel, which accounts for 38 percent of the company's capacity and the bulk of its profits. The airline, which employs 58,000 people, had been bruised by no -frills airlines offering cut-rate European flights and tougher competi- tion on trans -Atlantic routes. Earlier this month, the company said it would elimi- nate 1,800 jobs by next April in an effort to cut costs. Another 3,000 jobs were cut through voluntary means in the finan- cial year ending March 30. ; European Dave Beal (continued) Airlines face immense new costs for heightened security emerged as an archenemy to at airports. the controversial, publicly backed financing that the State of Minnesota gave to Northwest Airlines. He called the move an ill-advised bailout by the tax- payers. Eventually, that experi- ence led him to become one of nation's most outspoken critics of "corporate welfare" — public subsidies to businesses. Rolnick says flatly that fed- eral emergency help for the industry, catlike the state assis- tance given to Northwest in 1992, is absolutely essentiaL Federal airline regulators grounded the carriers last Tuesday, in order to protect the passengers. Terrorists had hijacked four large planes, then flown them on suicide missions into New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon. More than 5,000 people, mostly civil- ians, were killed in mass mur- ders so ghastly that even our television sets cannot convey the scope of what has been done to America. The airlines didn't get back into the air until last weekend, and then only slowly. They suf- fered huge revenue losses when . their planes were grounded. Now they face immense new costs — imposed on them by federal regulators — for height- ened security at airports. They must also do much more to protect passengers once the planes are in the air. That means significant new expenses for, among other things, putting armed sky mar- shals on the planes. These costs, says Rolnick, have become part of the burden of running an essential service. They are public costa that should not be borne by the air- lines. Ernest Arvai, a New Hamp- shire -based airline consultant, agrees. "The nature of the business and its value to the economy are the critical factors here," says Arvai. "Northwest holds a vital interest to our national security right now. "It's clear that the whole industry needs signiricant assistance and fast" The airlines have proposed that the help be distributed on the basis of market share. Arvai, however, says spectel cir- cumstances should also be taken into account. US Airways, for instance, should be singled out for more help because it has a major hub at Reagan National Airport. That airport, just a few miles from the nation's principal gov- ernment sites and symbols, could remain closed indefinitely. Also, Arvai argues that air- lines with concentrated service to Washington, New York and Boston should get special con- sideration. Many travelers may stay away from airports serv- ing those areas, since those air- ports figured so prominently in the hijackers' plans. Another concern to be worked through: Under New York law, both and American and United could be held liable for the collapse of the trade cen- No.8241 P. 8/10 tees twui towel's. Adding to the airlines' woes, even before last week's disas- ters: Traditionally limited financial resources, which seri- ously hamper the industry's ability to deal with its troubles. Investors avoid airline stocks because the companies are too cyclical, and don't make much money. Moreover, the air- lines face high costs of capital and labor. Also, they sell a commodity product. "A seat is a seat, no matter what airline you are on," says Arvai. And when they don't fill the seats, they lose substantial revenue. Thus, airline stocks are almost always out of favor with Wall Street. How much so? Investors currently value the nation's seven largest air- lines combined at just more than $18 billion. That's barely more than half the value of 3M alone. The combined value of Northwest and United ($L87 bil- lion) is less even than that of Amazon.com ($2.77 billion). That's after the plunge in Ama- zon's value since early 2000. The airlines also have access to public debt markets, to finance their equipment. Yet, as Arvai notes, that debt is viewed as relatively low-grade by the credit rating agencies. In summary, the airlines,: so essential to the nation, are the orphans of Wall Street. For them, what happened last week instantly turned a bad situation into one consider- ably worse. It's so bad now.that the airlines will not be able to withstand it without a big help- ing hand from American tax- payers. Dave Beal can be reached at dbeai@pioneerpress.com or (651) 228.5429. Patrick Kennedy and Susan E. Peterson Star 7iribune Staff Writers While the rest of the airline industry has returned to the iir, the nation's flight schools hir the most part remain grounded, including 77 flight schools in Minnesota. The Federal Aviation Ad- Ohinistiation's (FAA) temporary ei&t restriction rules for Class airspace, which include flights within about 20 miles of the Minneapolis -St. Paul Inter- national Airport, were loos- dhed Wednesday to allow in- atnunent-rated pilots to file eight plans for trips from or through that airspace. Also, Some limited instrument flight training is allowed. • However, flights by non -in- strument -rated pilots remain prohibited in Class B space, as 4o any flights related to sight- seeing. banner -pulling, traffic watch or news operations. On Thursday, the FM prohibited 3ity flights below 3,000 feet within three miles of any pro- fessional or college sporting dvent "or any other major open-air assembly of people." The restrictions, which Came in response to Last weeks • derrorist attacks, have in effect grounded most fixed -base op- erators and flight schools na- tionwide. It's uncertain how long the restrictions will last. We're hearing from busi- nesses that are saying they're Ai.• «vino to ha *hie to hnld on I AGEA22 • STAR TRIBUNE Nationwidegroundinghurts AFTER THE ATTACK FRIDAY, SEP'TEMBER 21.2001 tate's 77 flight schools much longer," Warren Morn- ingstar, a spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots As- sociation. "Flight training is a capital -intensive business, an aircraft is an expensive item, and if you have a whole fleet of aircraft you have some very siz- able fixed costs." Tim Schulze, a flight instruc- tor at Knowlton Flight Instruc- tion Services at the Anoka County Airport, doesn't get paid if he doesn't give lessons. He said the uncertainty about when the FAA will allow flight training operations to re- sume has been tough. "We're asking those ques- tions pretty much daily," he said. "like most other folks in America, we're wondering what the rationale is. If it's for the security of the country, of course we're happy to do what- ever it takes — but it would be good to get more information." Scott Gaupp of Rockford, Minn., is a full-time flight in- structor, one of more than 360 full-time or part-time flight in- structors in Minnesota. He hasn't flown a training flight since 7 a.m. Sept. 11. In a typical week, he might teach 25 to 30 hours a week. A graduate of the University of North Dakota's flight school, Gaupp was counting on expan- sion in the airline industry and retirements by older pilots to create airline openings. Gaupp has 1,000 hours of total time logged and was close to reachirie the 1,200 to 1,800 hour level that would draw in- terest from commercial air- lines. "I was marketable, but who knows with all the fur- loughs," Gaupp said. Kory Arens, 27, is a flight dispatcher for Wings Inc., a flight training school in St. Paul. Arens, of Eagan. says Wings Inc. has 20 planes that usually fly every day. Because of the restrictions, he said Wings has been limited to in- strument -flight lessons. Arens has about 400 flight hours and is working toward getting his certified flight in- structor license. He plans to be a oommercial pilot. "I'm going to do that still — I'm going to remain optimis- tic,"he said. Arens said he thinks some future pilots might give up their dreams to fly. "We all as- sume it's going to take us a lit- tle longer now,"Arens said. Because many of the sus- pected hijackers in last week's attacks attended U.S. flight schools, the schools also fear the loss of foreign students. Flight school operators said they expect the State Depart- ment to make it more difficult for foreign students to enter the country for flight school, or that the department will em- ploy a screening process that will lengthen the wait forvisas. The Associated Press con- tributed to this story. -Patric# Kennedy is at pirennedy@startribune.com. surprise attacks — but fore on thousands of cis of this was brought upcPAGEA24 • T UNB * single day. And night fei (event world." The speech, which minutes and was throughout the world, r none in recent memory to war— a distant canoe 111nChon I31 Duluth, erat°ns raised in peace. cautioned that the terrupted by applause 3C It was the president': jor appeal to Congress al Lion since the attack_ AFTER THE ATTACK FRIDAY, SEPTEMllER 21.2001 ALSO The governor, speaking at a fight against terrorism could be long and costly. By Conrad deFiebre Star TnbuneStafWrrter DULUTH, MINN. —Ameri- ca's war on terrorism will re- quire great sacrifices of Mlnne- sotaas, perhaps as great as > Excerpts from thespeerh. Airlines scramble; financial deal made Congress opened hearings on airline security Thursday, examining proposals to fortify cockpits, add more sky mar- shals and have the government take over the job of keeping air- ports and planes safe. Meanwhile, Congress and the White 'louse agreed after midnight on a $15 billion plan to bolster the airline industry. The House is expected to approve the package latex to- day. and the Senate is expected to swiftly follow suit. Many of the nation's eight schools say they'll be out of business soon unless the gov- ernment eases restrictions. In Minnesota, travel ag uts are getting a dearer picture of how Northwest Airlines will shed 20 percent of its flights. The carrier is limiting the num- ber of flights to both coasts and canceling the last flights of the day from its hubs. Some small towns will lose service entirely. Other airlines also are cutting service to the Twin Cities. Details in Business. An announce- ment was expected early this morning by Northwest Air- lines regarding job cuts and po- tential changes in service. For updates, visit htC//www- startnbtne.00m/ or call 612- 673-9014. Minnesotans must pull -together in face of tough times, Ventura says. those of World War II, Gov. Jes- se Ventura said Thursday. "Times are going to be tough, he said at a Duluth Ro- tary luuncheon. "We all have to pull together and work togeth- er. We will do what we can, but we won't be able to provide ev- erything we need- When that happens, blame the terrorists, not me or the president." For example, Ventura noted that reversals in the travel and tourism industries could se- verely affect northern Minne- sota's resort country and the Mall of America. And while he said that last week's attacks have been "devastating" for Northwest Airlines, he gave lit- tle hint of proposing state as- sistance for the carrier, which is based in Fagan. Airline bailouts should first be addressed by the federal government he said, reserving state resources to meet "other negative impacts that we may not have thought ofyet_" Ventura, however, did sug- gest that Minnesotans "buy stock in America," particulady in Northwest. "They may be down right now," he said. `But if you buy in now, in five or six years you may be very, very wealthy." He also urged all Minneso- tans to stay alert for signs of terrorist activity. "There could be more sillies," be said. We don't know." He said he and other governors have been briefed on the situation in reg- ular top-secret conferenoe calls with top federal officials "There is no quick f " to end terrorism, he said. "It's not two missiles into somewhere in Afghanistan and it's over. This war could last as long as World War II and we must be pre- pared for that" As at other recent appear- ances. Ventura wore a leather bomber jacket identifying him as commander -in -chief of the Minnesota National Guard_ Noting some radio criticism of that garb, he said that he was proud to wear the jacket and that "I felt it very appropriate to stand tall as the command- er -in -chief." That drew applause from the luncheon crowd of 320 and a call from one listener. "You look good in it anyway." ConraddeFebreisat cdefiebretbstartranase.com UL PI N L, u J11 1‘.. PR ESS WW W.TWIIICrTIES:CoM SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 22, 2001 MINNBSOTA'S FIRST NEWSPAPER SOUTH SUBURBAN EO(TION • 25 CENTS Eeonomist: Cutbacks could trigger state recession Northwest layoffs will hit Eagan hard BY SHERYL JEAN and MERE HUGHLBTT Pioneer Press Airline cutbacks; most notably from Northwest Air- lines, will hurt the already weakened Minnesota economy and could throw the state into a recession, said one economist Northwest will lay off 9,450 employees, including possibly 4,500 in Minnesota, and cart flights by 20 percent Other -major airlines also have 'announced 20 percent service reductions and job cuts because fewer people are flying after the Sept 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. The economic impact will be. far reaching for several reasons: • The number of jobs lost dwarfs that of most mass lay- offs. ■ Northwest jobs tend to pay more the average job in the Twingities, or about $50,000 on average a year. ' ■ The airline isone ofMin- nesota's largest employers with about 20,000 workers in the Twin Cities. The job cuts will result in higher unemployment claims, less airport business, lower cor- porate and airport revenue, and most likely less consumer spendfng. Sung Won Sohn, an econo- mist for Wells Fargo & Co., esti- mates the Northwest layoffs will result in $560 million in total economic losses, a figure based on a standard economic multi- plier. That $560 million in lost eco- nomic activity would equal about 03 percent of Minnesota's gross state product, he said. While the percentage may seem small, ` is pretty significant coming from a single company," Sohn said. It could make the dif- ference between a recession and no recession, he said. A recession is typically defined as two consecutive quarters of declining economic output. Fagan, the city where North- west is based and where it has an operations center, expects to be hard hit. The airline is the city's largest employer: - Its mayor, Patricia Awada, on Friday called for strong govern- ment aid for Northwest and affected employees The airline employs about 2,500 . people in Eagan and thousands of others work at related companies. The overall blow to individu- als and the economy will be tempered by unemployment benefits, Sohn said.. However, his calculations didn't include economic losses incurred by Northwest suppliers such as linen and food vendors that are likely see orders decline as the airline cuts flights. Northwest's layoffs will mean that Minnesota's initial unemployment claims for Sep- tember will rise by about 25 per- cent, or onelextra week 'worth of claims, said state economist Tom Stinson_ Unemployment rates already have been rising at a fairly sharp rate. The U.S. rate rose to 4.9 percent, a four-year high, in August Minnesota's unemploy- ment rate was 3.6 percent in August - But Stinson said air trans- portation, including freight, accounts for about 1.5 percent of Minnesota's economy. "It's a small part of the economy," he said. It won't have the same kind of effect that Boeing's 30,000 layoffs have for Washing- ton's economy. We're more diversified_" The airport will see a decrease in business as North- west and other airlines cut serv- ice. Northwest accounts for about 80 percent of the airport's airline revenue. As a result, the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which oversees the airport, said Friday it expects 2001 revenue to fall by $5 million to $7 million, or 3 to 4 percent. In addition, its passen- ger facility charg would be $5 million to $10 miliZn less than expected for the year "All of the airlines have indi- cated a 20 percent reduction, and that's what we based our projections on, but we don't know what type of reduction we'll have here," said Steve Busch, director of finance for the MAC. So, the full economic impact an the airport could be more or less than estimated as the airlines disclose more details about Sight changes, he said. Northwest flies about 500 jets and commuter planes a day to and from the airport. A 20 per- cent reduction would be a cut of about 100 flights a day. "This will shake out over the next several weeks, months and into next year," said Amy von Walter, spokeswoman for the MAC_ "It will have a trickle - down effect." Sheryl Jean can be reached at sjean@pioneerpress.com or (651) 228-5576. Mike lughlett can be reached at mhughleit@ ioneer- press_com or (651) 228-5428. First layoff is at hand for many NWA pilots Page 1 of 2 news freetime - travel - homezone - cars - shopping - workavenue - communities metro / region - nation / world - politics - business - sports - variety - opinion - fun & games - talk index ap business news technology business calendar business forum company earnings reports company press releases data bank everybody's business business projects star tribune 100 executive compensation top 25 grantmakers nonprofit 100 banking on women venture capital archive stories photo reprints projects contact corrections feedback First layoff is at hand for many NWA pilots Deborah Caulfield Rybak Star Tribune Published Sep 21 2001 There's an old saying in the airline industry: You ain't a real pilot 'til you've been furloughed. If that's the case, an estimated 700 to 1,000 Northwest pilots soon will verify their professional status when the airline begins its layoffs. With its pending layoff announcement this week, Northwest will join 10 other airlines in cutting back on flight schedules and personnel by about 20 percent. Current industry -wide layoff figures stand at almost 70,000, not counting Northwest numbers, which are expected to be released today. Total layoffs at airlines are expected to reach as high as 100,000. By comparison, in 1991, a recession, the Gulf War and the demise of both Eastern and Pan American airlines produced 40,000 layoffs industrywide. "As the saying goes, 'When the economy catches a cold, the airlines catch pneumonia,' said George Hopkins, a history professor at Western Illinois University. "But in this particular case, the economy also seems to be catching pneumonia, so I don't know what that means for the airlines." What it means for Northwest pilots at the bottom of the seniority list is a return to days that some pilots haven't seen in years -- if ever. After the ups and downs of deregulation in the 1980s and the early 1990s recession, the airline industry boomed. "The golden age of airline profitability was 1993 to 2000," said Hopkins, author of three books on the history of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), one of the world's most elite and wealthy unions. Times were so good that pilot shortages were widespread, even as recently as last summer. "Almost 80 percent of this pilot group has never been through a significant furlough," said retired 747 captain Richard Duxbury, who estimates that he spent "almost 13 percent of my career" laid off from Related e Email § Print tl Search News Find it! More searc http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/703865.html 9/21/2001 First layoff is at hand for many NWA pilots Page 2 of 2 Northwest at one time or another. There was the year and a half in the late '60s, and then another year in 1970. "July 8, 10:45 a.m.," he recalled. Duxbury, who was married with "three young kids and a mortgage," returned to the military reserves, where he stayed active on and off through several shorter furloughs. Les McNamee wasn't as fortunate. The now -retired 747-400 captain was furloughed in 1970 and spent the next 8% years working for Red Owl Foods. "At one point, there were about 40 Northwest pilots working at that warehouse," McNamee recalled, adding, "The '70s wasn't my favorite decade." McNamee's advice to the pink -slipped: "Hang in there. I think everybody will survive." Duxbury also was optimistic about the prospects for this new generation of furloughed pilots, whose salaries are estimated to range from $40,000 to $80,000 per year. Some could return to military service, although Duxbury said that only one-third to one-half of the newest Northwest pilots have had such training. In addition, with Northwest pilot retirements (mandatory at age 60) at an all-time high, Duxbury estimates that Northwest will have 300 pilot positions open each of the next three years "just doing nothing." That's what Scott Gaupp is hoping. Gaupp is a local flight instructor and certified pilot who wants a career as a commercial pilot. Gaupp hasn't lost any hope he'll eventually accomplish his dream of landing a job with an airline. "It'll happen eventually], but it's going to take awhile," he said. "You can't stop these guys from growing older." -- Staff writer Patrick Kennedy contributed to this report. -- Deborah Caulfield Rybak is at dcrybak@startribune.com . Return to top © Copyright 2001 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/703865.html 9/21/2001 Northwest schedule cuts -- and airline fare sales -- are showing up Page 1 of 2 news freetime - travel - homezone - cars - shopping - workavenue - communities metro/region - nation r world - politics - business - sports - variety - opinion - fun & games - talk index ap business news technology business calendar business forum company earnings reports company press releases data bank everybody's business business projects star tribune 100 executive compensation top 25 grantmakers nonprofit 100 banking on women venture capital archive stories photo reprints projects contact corrections feedback Northwest schedule cuts -- and airline fare sales -- are showing up David Phelps Star Tribune Published Sep 21 2001 Northwest Airlines' new, reduced schedule is emerging gradually as travel agents attempt to figure out what flights and destinations will be missing in the coming months as two out of every 10 flights is pulled from service. Fewer trips to Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco and Portland are starting to appear in computerized reservations systems as part of the stringent cost -saving measures being imposed by the Eagan -based carrier. Last flights of the day from Northwest's hubs, including the Twin Cities, are being eliminated to keep planes at home and available for the next day's service. Small towns in the Northwest system will lose service outright. Before the hijackings that prompted the cutbacks, Northwest notified the U.S. Transportation Department that it intends to drop service to several small communities, including Thief River Falls, Minn.; Watertown, S.D.; Escanaba, Mich., and Mason City, Iowa. Other airlines serving the Twin Cities also are reducing their presence in this market as they impose their own cost -saving measures. Chicago -based United Airlines, for example, is reducing its number of flights here from 22 to 11, according to travel agents who have scanned reservation systems. In some instances, agents must call airlines on behalf of clients to see whether a flight still is scheduled. Travel agents, meanwhile, report that caution appears to be the byword for both business and leisure travelers for the near term. Pat Humble of Waters Travel in Wayzata said business bookings are starting to pick up for the first week of October while cancellations have been virtually nonexistent for leisure travel further out, such as during Related 411 Email IP Print tl Search INews More searc http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/703781.html 9/21/2001 Northwest schedule cuts -- and airline fare sales -- are showing up Page 2 of 2 Christmas and spring break. There just hasn't been much activity for the past week. "The best part of it is that we are not in our peak travel season," Humble said. Fall historically is a weak period for air travel. George Wozniak of Hobbit Travel in Minneapolis said fare discounts already are starting to appear on reservation screens as airlines try to entice passengers back into the air. Wozniak said Northwest and Sun County both posted $110 round-trip fares to Orlando around noon on Thursday. AmericaWest was offering round-trip fares of $178 throughout its system, Wozniak said. "This is just the beginning of airlines trying to stimulate retail sales right now," Wozniak said. One byproduct of the revamped schedule will be fewer flights in markets where Northwest and Sun Country compete, including several West Coast destinations where Northwest flights are being reduced by up to 30 percent. It doesn't make sense to fight for market share and lose money while doing it, industry observers said. Terry Trippler, an airline analyst for Onetravel.com, said Northwest will emerge as a stronger airline as it trims and adjusts its flight schedule. "I think we'll see a new Northwest and a new industry by spring break," Trippler said. Trippler, a sometimes -critic of Northwest, applauded the airline for beginning cost-cutting efforts before the September catastrophe. He said the Northwest -Continental Airlines alliance will be strengthened by the financial restructuring at both airlines. -- David Phelps is at dphelps@startribune.com Return to top © Copyright 2001 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/703781.html 9/21/2001 62-, cutAA0w off_ j 1 Northwest announces job cut, company's largest in nonstrike situation Page 1 of 3 news freetime - travel - homezone - cars - shopping - workavenue - communities metro i region - nation r world - politics - business - sports - variety - opinion - fun & games - talk Photos 0 The Aftermath: Saturday ID The Aftermath: Friday 2 Photos from the World Trade Center 0 Photos from the Pentagon O Photos from the Twin Cities • Your photos: A gallery O More photos Northwest announces job cut, company's largest in nonstrike situation Tony Kennedy Star Tribune Published Sep 21 2001 Job cuts totaling 10,000 were announced this morning by Northwest Airlines, the largest in company history in a nonstrike situation. The reduction will include 1,000 management employees, some with more than 20 years of experience. Northwest did not immediately provide a breakdown of the layoffs, other than to say 9,000 belong to unions. The company said the cuts, representing nearly 20 percent of its employees, will affect all classifications. Northwest is the latest U.S.-based carrier to sharply reduce its work force and service since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Air carriers, along with aircraft maker Boeing, have announced layoffs of more than 100,000 workers. In discussing the layoffs Thursday night with union leaders, Northwest Senior Vice President of Labor Relations Bob Brodin told unions that the company invoked "force majeure" provisions to override contractual jobs protections. The term means superior or irresistible force beyond the company's control, which the company interpreted as applicable to last week's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington that used hijacked American and United jetliners to strike the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. "This is a very painful decision," Northwest CEO Richard Anderson said today in a statement. "These reductions are necessary to maintain Northwest Airlines as a successful company." Shares of Northwest fell 97 cents, or 13.7 percent, to $9.50 in early trading today. The price is down nearly 50 percent since the attacks. The cuts will be made through layoff, voluntary leave, attrition and not filling open positions. Northwest had about 53,000 employees worldwide, with slightly more than half of them in Minnesota. "It's disappointing but not surprising," said Mark McClain, chairman of the Master Executive Council of the Northwest Air Line Pilots Related • $15 bi struck aid [9 North\ sched begin • First l hand 1 NWA • Exper marsh progre for ph. O Minne flight grouni Et 3Arat Amer, kickec flight f Minne Et Airline possit grouni week insura after ti .E9 Email • Print tl Search News Find if!" More searc http://www.startribune.com/stories/1576/704824.html 9/21/2001 Northwest announces job cut, company's largest in nonstrike situation Page 2 of 3 Association. "It's still kind of settling in." McClain said 1,003 of NWA 6,615 pilots are targeted for job cuts through July 2002. In the end, the number will include 150 pilots who leave the company through retirement. McClain said 30 pilots will receive layoff notices immediately, and seven more will be laid off in December. The pilots' biggest hit will come in January, when 263 are targeted for layoffs. After that, Northwest said it will layoff 100 pilots a month through June. McClain said Northwest said it will slow the layoffs or accelerate them depending on public demand for air service. "The real key is passenger confidence in the system and getting the economy going again," McClain said. "People have to get back in the airplanes. You just can't fly people around with the planes half empty." Bobby De Pace, president of the 19,000-member International Association of Machinists' union at Northwest, said the union has calculated the effect on its membership at about 3,500. Within mechanic ranks, 940 people are targeted for layoff. The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, Local 33, said the systemwide layoff notice includes 600 aircraft technicians, 50 plant maintenance technicians, 270 aircraft cleaners and 20 technical operations cleaners. Northwest said it will continue to serve all mainline domestic destinations. However, the number of flights to some cities would be reduced. Northwest already had announced it would suspend its Amsterdam -Delhi route; the carrier said today it would reduce the frequency of other international flights. Northwest is continuing to revise its schedule, and won't be finished implementing the changes until Oct. 1, the company said. Northwest had about 1,700 daily departures systemwide; the new schedule is about 1,400 daily flights. On Thursday, the airline met with representatives of the Air Line Pilots Association and the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association to discuss the recovery plan. Major carriers American, Continental, Delta and United have also trimmed their schedules by 20 percent since the attacks. The big carriers have said layoffs together could reach 100,000 in the coming weeks. On Wednesday, Anderson and other top official testified before the House Transportation Committee to seek government aid for airlines. Congress is set to pass a $15 billion relief package that could go to President Bush today. http://www.startribune.com/stories/1576/704824.html 9/21/2001 Northwest announces job cut, company's largest in nonstrike situation Page 3 of 3 The Legislature has also pledged to help, perhaps by refinancing a $270 million loan Northwest received 10 years ago from the Metropolitan Airports Commission. The loan was part of a bailout package. But Gov. Jesse Ventura said there was little the state could do to aid Northwest. "These are private sector businesses that rely on customer service. What we can do is assure people that the skies are safe," he said. Cyndi Schulte, a Northwest flight attendant for 18 years, said Friday she's already applied for leave. "I feel I shouldn't be out here right now," Schulte said. I look at my passengers differently. I need to take some time to regroup." Steve Sutherland, an aircraft inspector and AMFA member, said, "Everybody's mad and upset but it's not directed at the company, because the company is doing what it has to do." -- News services contributed to this report. Return to top © Copyright 2001 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. http://www.startribune.com/stories/1576/704824.html 9/21/2001 SEPTEMBER 29, 2001 VOLUME 23, NO. 31 \\ Northwest Layoffs could have major impact pact on Eagan by Erin Johnson Staff Writer Northwest Airlines, which is based in Eagan, recently announced it will reduce its staff by 10,000 employees, 4,500 of whom live in Minnesota. In addition; the airline is reducing its scheduled service by 20 per- cent. The layoffs could have wide- spread economic impact throughout Eagan as at least a third of the city's workforce is somehow affected by Northwest, said Mayor Pat Awada. "Northwest Airlines . plays a vital . role in the . economy,: of • Minnesota and the :nationn; sere . ing.:both travelers: and business- es, and is a major employer in the Twin Cities area, with some 2,500 employees in Eagan alone," Awada said. Awada and other city officials are calling on the state and fed- eral governments to provide assistance to the airline and its employees. Northwest employees, she said, are only a fraction of those affected. "We believe there are many, many residents who work for Northwest at other locations, given the city's convenient access to Twin Cities International Airport," she said. "Beyond that, however, are the. thousands who work with com- panies closely related to air transportation, such as air freight firms, aviation equipment manu- facturers and marketers and import/export organizations." City : officials said that approximately one Eagan's workforce is somehow tied to operations at the interna- tional airport, and they are esti- third of mating that 20,000 residents will be directly or indirectly affected. See Layoffs, 20A Layoffs/From.:1 A - affected. Some -options tobe explored at the state`level`for employees, they said,-: include •extended Unemployment benefits,- added investments in the dislocated workers program and assistance in job -placement activities. Northwest employees 'affect- ed by the layoffs received assis- tance filling out resumes and fit- ing for unemployment last week at the Thunderbird Hotel in Bloomington. The Dakota County Workforce Council was on hand .. with the MobilForce Command Center's Big Purple Truck. The truck houses 12 computer work- stations with Internet access, copiers and fax machines that employees used to search for jobs. John Massetti, a representa- tive. of Machinists . Union-. District ;1:43,, :which :has about 3,700 members affected by the' layoffs, said `that while he does-_ n't have exact- numbersof the Eagan' rniembers being laid, off, there are "quite a'bit." Massetti , said there are more than 1;000. • union members in the Twin Cities who will be affected. Machinists Union District 143 is made up of work- ers 'such' as customer service and reservation employees, equip- ment service employees and administrative . and clerical employees. In response to .the troubles faced by airlines, the state Senate formed the Air Transportation and Economic Security Committee last week. Sen. Deanna Wiener (DFL- Eagan). was appointed head of the committee, which will look at ways the state can help local 9/29.11341•A NI" EmmF21R got window condensation? If you've got a window condensation problem, don't wait until it damages your windows and they need replacement. Solve excessive humidity and indoor air quality problems with a . Venmar dependable heat/energy recovery ventilation system. A Venmar unit will exhaust stale and humid air and replace it with fresh, warmed air from the outside. Let Venmar provide you with year-round comfort and peace of mind. get venmar. IT'S ABOUT COMMITMENT. Ask us about our maintenance agreements MANE' It's Hard To Stop A Trane. T. CONTROLLED AIR AND TRANE ARE COMMITTED TO KEEPING YOU COMFORTABLE ALL YEAR LONG. CONTROLLED AIR "Home Comfort Specialists" 651-4,60-6022 1-800-420-5589 www.controlledair.net FREE ESTIMATES FINANCING AVAILABLE • airlines and the Minneapolis -St: Paul, airport. Many -local businesses have) -.. already felt the . effects of the recent terrorist attacks, and the Northwest layoffs could add to the impact. According to Lisa Hoffman of AAA Travel, which has a branch in Eagan, travel agencies have definitely seen a decrease in business. • . "Business • obviously has slowed down," she said. "We're getting a lot of requests for information, but they're not nec- essarily booking." After Sept. 11, Hoffman said, her office was noticeably qui- eter. "It was amazing how quiet it was," she said. "But moreso it was comforting clients. Every person you talked to had a story. They needed to talk about what they experienced and how they were dealing with the situation. So in some ways we became Spend a "delightful day in the country" at ... Thom Crest Farm Fall Harvest & Craft Festival FR IDAYS-S ATURDAYS-S UNDAYS Fridays: Noon-5:30 pm Sat. & Sun.:10 am-5:30 pm Dried Flowers Country Store 3 Craft Sheds Gift Shop Antiques Pick -Your -Own Pumpkins Grass Maze Farm Animals FRI. & SAT. ONLY Face Painting and Games counselors.'° Even so, Hoffmansaid ,the number . of cancellations •:was" less than she expected. "Therewere.quite a few peo- ple that.. deferred. their travel dates and are planning on travel- ing next year," she .said. ' In terms of' the Northwest layoffs, Hoffman said shethinks itmay bring ticket prices up slightly, but it also means people who want to travel need to get their reservations in early. In addition to the cancela- tions and postponements, Hoffman said her agency has also heard from some people who feel very secure traveling right now. "People are feeling that they'd like to travel, they have plans and they don't want it to disturb their livelihood," she said. "We've had customers that have said that they wouldn't have any problem getting on an aircraft right now." IT'S AMAZING WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH ROCK. !;Decorative Rocks & Boulders,. • Patio Brick & Pavers.. • Natural Stone • Delivery. Available 952-435-6927 JACKSON LANDSCAPE SUPPLY INC. Located on I.35, Exit #86, SWouadrant, Lakeville The Eagan . Convention and ..Visitors Bureau is also feeling. the crunch': The organization has seen :a decrease in its funding, which comes directly from . the lodgingtax of hotels, said Director Ann Carlon. Hotel business has:decreased • by.7 to 10 percent in September, she said,. and is projected,, to • remain low through December. "We're hoping in January it will go back to normal," Carlon . said, adding that there haven't been layoffs in the hotel.indus- try yet, but some have altered their hours. "Certainly the traveling pub- lic has decided to stay closer to home," she said. . In terms of business. travel- ers, Carlon said they've seen an increase in people driving to their destinations instead of fly- ing. The organization has also changed its marketing strategy, applying a "closer -to -home" policy that focuses on the seven - state region and Canada instead of the east and west coasts. Construction on the new Community Center in Eagan was also postponed in the wake of the attacks. Crews were digging near Northwest's Data Center Sept. 11 when administrators with Northwest's information servic- es became concerned about the stability of their computing environment in light of the day's events. They asked the city to stop digging and, according to John Parker, vice president of infor- mation services at Northwest, the city stopped work on the project for the rest of the day and offered to postpone it longer if necessary. Digging resumed later the next day and will have no long- term impact on the project, said "Joanna Foote, communications coordinator for the city of Eagan. Scores: ' NBA Wolves 111 Cleveland 107 Sports: Henry stops Totino- Grace • C9 Wednesday MARCH 22, 2000 Variety: West meets. East (and Midwest) at music conference in Texas • E1 ex Glrl Llkehell tarTrIbune NEWSPAPER OF THE TWIN CITIES M Ed B ma arLTlbIMO C0111::": Cut cable cancels, delays NWA flights > Northwest Airlines canceled more than 100 flights, and many more were delayed when a fiber-optic cable was cut, disrupting computerized flight plan- ning Tuesday afternoon. Today's flights were expected to resume as scheduled. > U S West said the cable was cut by a contractor working for McLeodUSA. McLeod officials blamed U S West for not clearly marking the location of the underground cable. By Tony Kennedy Star Tribune Staff Writer Hundreds of Northwest Air- lines flights throughout the World were delayed or can- celed Tuesday after a construc- tion crew accidentally cut a fi- ber-optic cable in Eagan, crashing a Northwest comput- er that speeds flight planning. Normal flight operations re- sumed after service was re- stored at 5:25 p.m., and North- west said today's flights were expected to go as scheduled. Other area businesses, includ- ing computer maker Unisys Corp., also were affected by the communication -line mishap. The U S West line was cut at 2:05 p.m. near Pilot Knob Road and Lone Oak Road, the same general location where North- west houses its WorldFlight mainframe computer. The ma- chine churns raw data to guide Northwest's flight dispatchers, weight -and -balance experts and pilots in calculating takeoff settings. It also supports a heavily used digital communi- cation link between the dis- patch center and all Northwest cockpits: Besides impairing computer functions for flight prepara- tion, the accident hampered computerized check -in func- tions as well as the airline's Web site and other information systems. Northwest flight dispatcher Mike Routy said the airline used manual backup systems to cope with aircraft weight - and -balance issues. In addi- tion, radio communications substituted for the electronic message system, he said. "It was a pretty major corn- puter disruption," said Routy, a spokesman for the union rep- resenting Northwest's flight dispatchers. "It's a definite pain in the neck, frankly, but the job could still be done." NORTHWEST continues on A16 . Star Tribune photos by Bruce Bisping, top, and Brian Peterson, above Planes and passengers alike waited at Minneapolis -St. Paul International Airport Tuesday after a severed fiber-optic cable caused a computer shutdown. For 11-year-old Missy Pleln, leaning on her father, Dan, flightdelays put a hold on the start of spring break. ALSO INSIDE: J>• It was a long wait for many North- • west passen- gers. A16 )- Automated communica- tions are used to report many details for aircraft and airline oper- ations. A16 A crucial Zink in Northwest's information flow • Northwest Airlines' WorldFlight computer system links every Northwest flight in the world by fiber-optic cable to a site in Eagan. It enabies flight dispatchers and pilots to calculate takeoff power settings and airplane balance requirements based on information about passengers, luggage, cargo; fuel load and weather. - fligh) ;:s > Cargo weight !r+�- - --j, , uv •; � Baggage weight' °t0 fr'.». er of passengers rtk tj C u s �; Weather obseryetlons .4 Fue13Ioad 8T'" rrxPJ;3 keoffpower settings lane balance requirements > Flight plan Star Tribune graptac by Noah Musser WorldFlight aillft'aItle r�; Imputer. At 2:05 p.m., a construction crew accidentally severed a U S West fiberoptic cable. The Supreme blow to the adi efforts to cur FDA c, regula tobao By James Rosen Star Tribune Washington Bureau Correspondent WASHINGTON, D.C. ruled Tuesday that the Fo tion has no authority to rel ing the centerpiece of Pre clamp down on the tobaccr In a 5-4 decision rejer proposed in 1995 to restri rettes to minors, the high never given the agency juri The decision was a vier ble industry, though it 1, obligated to pay hundred settle lawsuits to recover st TOBACCO continues on A1: ALSO INSIDE: Supreme Court is asked nation guidelines. Votes on a "ri- measure sugge5. for abortion Senate 1 at aborti By Bill McAuliffe Star Tribune Staff Writer An abortion -related "I know" measure was al Tuesday by the' Senate, though it was a compro: vored by abortion -rights : the action may signal balance of power on the shifting at the state Legisit Such a measure, wl quires women to receiv mation on abortions t scheduled procedure, ha top priority for abortion fr The measure that pa: not as far-reaching as opponents had sought. But it came to the Sen only because abortion op won a vote overruling th president on whether th; which consistently has back abortion restriction: consider the issue at all. "RIGHT TO KNOW" continue PAGE A16 • STAR TRIBUNE *** WEDI Long delays frustrate travelers Passengers spend day waiting around By David Peterson and Lucy Y. Her Star Tribune Staff Writers Elmer Bowers flew out of his hometown of Savannah, Ga., at 11 a.m. Monday, headed for his brother's funeral this morning in Rapid City, S.D. That's called leaving plenty of time for error. And error was just what he found. After encountering delays in Atlanta and Cleveland, he finally reached the airport in Minneapo- lis at 5 p.m. Tuesday, just in time to be caught up in the computer shutdown that was affecting Northwest Airlines flights around the world. "I walked up to the counter for my 8:15 flight and the lady said, 'I don't know about that one,' " Bowers said. "I told her, 'My brother's funeral is at 10:30 in the morning!' "When I had cancer and al- most died, we made a pact that we'd be at each other's funeral no matter where we lived. My broth- er's last wish was that I would be his head pallbearer." People who overheard his sto- Delayed passengers crowded the phones Tuesday at the airport In Bloomington after learning about the Northwest Airlines computer problem. Flight delays were not what Elmer Bowers needed Tuesday. Bowers was coming from his home In Georgia to Rapid City, S.D., for his brother's funer- al, which Is this morning. ry Tuesday advised him to rent a car and hit the road, in what was threatening to turn into 'a reen- actment of the movie "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles." As of the time he was interviewed, he did expect to leave on time but said this was the last thing he NORTHWEST from Al Cable was cut by contractor for regional phone company Northwest spokesman Dennis • Mollura estimated that 120 to 130 of Northwest's 1,700 daily flights _were canceled because of the mishap. The number of canceled flights was comparable to the typical number of cancellations during a major snowstorm at a Northwest hub. • "It's a Worldwide problem throughout our system," Mollura said. The Eagan -based airline, the world's fourth -largest, issued a news release at 5:15 p.m., square- ly assigning blame for the prob- lem to U S West. "For such contingencies, U S West provides to Northwest a complete redundancy plan," or fallback system, the news release said. "The U S West redundancy plan also failed." U S West said that the redun- dancy built into the fiber-optic cable didn't work because "the primary cable and the area sur- rounding the cable were so se- verely damaged that the alternate path for the telecommunications was also affected." U S West said its telephone ca- ble was cut by a contractor. work- ing for a competitor, McLeod - USA, a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, re- gional telephone company that began offering local telephone service in the Twin Cities last year. McLeod officials in Iowa sug- gested that the blame for the in- cident should be placed on U S West for not clearly marking where its underground cable was buried — a charge U S West denied. 'Clearly marked' U S West spokeswoman Kim works for several years, referring to them as "self -healing." The re- dundancy works this way: Fiber- optic telephone cables are laid in rings several miles in diameter; if the cable is cut, telephone signals can travel the other way around the circle to reach their desti- nation. U S West workers at the site of the cable cutting said the con- ' tractor was drilling an under- ground tunnel for cable along Lone Oak Road when he hit six existing copper and fiber-optic cables underground at Pilot Knob Road. "The head of the directional boring machine just caught them and just ground them to pieces," said Dick Munson, U S West di- rector of construction for Minne- sota. The repair job involved more than 25 workers and many trucks with flashing lights. Peering down into a muddy hole 6 feet deep and 12 feet wide, Tim Buchholz, operations direc- tor for maintenance and restoral work, said that it would take the crew until 4 a.m. to repair the Unisys cable lines, which were copper. Each copper casing con- tained 1,800 wires, making it more difficult to repair, he said. "Unisys has lots of 800 num- bers that are out of service around the world. It affected their voice response and low-grade data and phone service lines," he said. Severity lessened In contrast, Northwest Airlines used fiber-optic cable, which lessened the severity of the acci- dent, Buchholz said. The largest number of flight cancellations were reported in Detroit and Minneapolis -St. Paul, needed. Most of those affected by Northwest's computer problems at Minneapolis -St. Paul Interna- tional Airport in Bloomington seemed to encounter only brief delays, even when their flights were canceled and they had to Star Tribune map rebook. Others, though, spent hours there and some were ex- pecting, as of early evening when they were interviewed; to spend the night at a hotel. Angie Berlanga of Chicago was lying to Missoula, Mont., for a . job interview"fuesday afternoon when the plane turned around after an hour in the air, she said. It re -landed in Minneapolis at about 1:30 p.m. The computer problem'kicked her flight to 8:55 p.m., she said. "It's inconvenient," Berlanga said. "I'm upset because I had to call everyone and let them know I'll be later, so that makes every- thing late." Besides having a fairly busy slate of business travelers, Tues- day was a heavier air travel day than it might otherwise have been, Northwest officials said, because of the start of school spring break, and many people were heading south. Among them were Dan Plein of Red Wing, Minn., and his kids, Justin, 15, Missy, 11, and Elle, 9. They were heading for Fort Myers, Fla., to take in the Twins spring training camp. Or they thought they were, until they arrived at the airport. They sat in a tired row, waiting, uncertain of their chances. "The kids have .been pretty good ever since I got some pizza in them," Dan Plein said. Marrion Walsh was coming the other way: returning from Phoenix to her hometown of Fargo, N.D. She arrived about 1 p.m., in plenty of time for a 3 p.m. departure. "First they said they were de- laying it to 3:10. Then they said the computers were down," Walsh said. She said she assumed it was routine and didn't learn until a couple of hours later that the problem was more serious. "They just left it at that 3:10 delay," she said. "Then at about 5:30 t booke • night, flightl Dal both o at the were aftern flight resche but aft only IN flight.' the 8:5 Bus and fat go to site als "Th Malec it's so t it was frustra inform — Sta tribute Mark Anderson, left, and Ketth McMoore work to uncover the cable that was severed i Knob Road and Lone Oak Road. U S West said the cable was cut by a contractor workir Communicating to pilots ex- clusively by radio also was a step back in time, Routy said. Normal- ly, dispatchers can zap printed messages to cockpits via the AGARS message system, but the WorldFlight computer problem temporarily crippled AGARS, Routy said. He also said the fiber-optic disruption knocked out computer screens that flight dispatchers normally use to track the position of airborne planes. He said dis- patchers compensated by getting position reports from air traffic controllers. off, albeit behind schedule. t During that time, 19 Northwest planes landed, parked at gates and let off passengers. Lack of information Things • at the . airport were mostly calm, but there were knots of people at certain gates, and for some a frustrating lack of informa- tion. Tom Swanson, for instance, drove all the way from Mankato, Minn., to pick up his wife, who was flying in from Denver. The flight was supposed to arrive at 5:11. The arrival board - also affected by the computer problem Computerstral detailsfor' airlir the aid: of'radio By Mike Meyers Star Tribune Staff Writer The kind of automated com- munications between aircraft and airline operations comput- ers that was disrupted for Northwest Airlines on Tuesday has been around for years. probl suppl in a fi using many the fli In syster times - Npr4-kwet (Ales 02/00 I - 7)) ID Fo tz) elk tN bS